Corea, República de - «Paper unions» (2010, 2011)

In a context where trade union pluralism is prohibited by law at the plant level, many employers have resorted to creating management-controlled unions, known as «paper unions». As they are impossible to democratise from within, owing to management’s hostility, and since the law forbids the organisation of alternative unions, workers are left with few, if any, rights and cannot engage in genuine collective bargaining. The continued ban on union pluralism at the plant level reinforces the negative impact of these «paper unions» in denying workers their collective bargaining rights.