Not too long ago, Citi Bank bought one of the largest Korean banks and then quickly ran into problems with the unionized workers. Their demands didn't make sense to a US based company: Don't rename the acquired Korean bank, Pay based on seniority rather than performance, etc.
So I was interested to find an editorial by a Korean on the unions here in Korea. The writer identifies some problems:
"Labor circles are so closed that violence is the only answer whenever social dialogue is mentioned." It's true that strikes turn violent more often in Korea than in America.
"The unions are moving away from the noble cause of protecting and forming solidarity among the socially weak. They are losing their legitimacy." This is because the unions don't protect workers in smaller companies and irregular workers. "In 2002, the hourly wage of irregular workers was 80.5 percent that of regular workers. The rate fell to 70.5 percent this year".
This is closely related to the "crisis of representation":
Among the 5.48 million irregular workers, only 1 percent are members of a union, yet the proportion of unionized workers in big corporations with 500 workers or more is as high as 71.2 percent. Overall, Korean unions are organizations of regular workers in major businesses. That structure makes it impossible for trade unions to represent the interests of all workers.