1st Edition

Trade Unions and Labour Movements in the Asia-Pacific Region

Edited By Byoung-Hoon Lee, Ng Sek-Hong, Russell Lansbury Copyright 2020
    350 Pages
    by Routledge

    350 Pages
    by Routledge

    Recent developments in the world economy, including deindustrialisation and the digital revolution, have led to an increasingly individualistic relationship between workers and employers, which in turn has weakened labour movements and worker representation. However, this process is not universal, including in some countries of Asia, where trade unions are closely aligned with the interests of the dominant political party and the state. This book considers the many challenges facing trade unions and worker representation in a wide range of Asian countries. For each country, full background is given on how trade unions and other forms of worker representation have arisen. Key questions then considered include the challenges facing trade unions and worker representation in each country, the extent to which these are a result of global or local developments and the actions being taken by trade unions and worker representative bodies to cope with the challenges.



     



    This book is dedicated to the memory of Professor Keith Thurley, London School of Economics.

    PART 1. INTRODUCTION







    1. Refining Varieties of Unions and Labour Movements in the Asia-Pacific Region






    2. Perspectives on Asian Unionism as a Regional Pattern




    3. PART 2. COUNTRY CHAPTERS





    4. Australian Unions: Crisis, Strategy, Survival






    5. Unions and Alternative Forms of Worker Representation in China in an Era of Privatisation and Globalisation






    6. Compatibles or Incompatibles: Hong Kong Unions as One Brand of ‘Asian Unionism’






    7. Trade Unions and Globalising India: Towards a More Inclusive Workers’ Movement?






    8. Bucking the Trend: Union Renewal in Democratic Indonesia






    9. Changes in the Labour Market and Employment Relationships in Japan






    10. Malaysian Trade Unions in the Twenty-first Century: Failed Revitalisation in a Market Economy.






    11. Worker Representation in a Segmented and Globalized Philippine Economy






    12. From Worker Representation to Worker Empowerment: The Case of Singapore






    13. Labour Unions and Worker Representation in South Korea






    14. Still Trapped between the State and Management: Unions and Worker Representation in Taiwan






    15. Unions and Labour Representation in Thailand: Weakness Continued






    16. The Reform of Vietnam Trade Union and the Government’s Role Since Doi moi




    17. PART 3. CONCLUSION





    18. Reflections on Union Movements and Worker Representation in the Asia-Pacific Region


    Biography



    Byoung-Hoon Lee is a professor at the Department of Sociology, Chung-Ang



    University. He received his Ph.D. at the Industrial and Labour Relations



    School, Cornell University. He previously worked as a research fellow at



    the Korea Labour Institute. He undertook presidential positions in various



    organisations, such as Korea Labour & Employment Relations Association,



    Labour Administration Reform Commission and Fair Labour Commission



    of People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy. At present, he is the



    chairman of Public Workers Solidarity Foundation. He was a co-editor of



    a special volume of Journal of Industrial Relations concerning Varieties of



    Labour Movements in the Asia-Pacific region. He is recently working on labour



    and worker solidarity, precarious workers and labour market segmentation,



    informality of employment relations, the impact of digital revolution



    on working life and labour history in Korea.



    Sek-Hong Ng graduated from the University of Hong Kong and undertook



    postgraduate studies in industrial sociology and industrial relations at the



    London School of Economics and Political Sciences, where he completed



    his doctoral thesis under the supervision of Professor Keith Thurley. He



    returned to Hong Kong and joined the University of Hong Kong in the Department



    of Management Studies, later the School of Business. He is currently



    an honorary professor with the Faculty of Business and Economics



    at the University of Hong Kong. He writes in the areas of employment and



    labour relations, trade unions and labour law. He is currently working on



    the study of labour law in the People’s Republic of China as well as an occupational



    study on workers’ expectations and alienation in Hong Kong.



    Russell D. Lansbury is Emeritus Professor of Employment Relations at the



    University of Sydney Business School where he was also associate dean (research)



    and a head of department. He gained a PhD in Industrial Relations



    from the London School of Economics and has been awarded honorary



    doctorates by Lulea Technical University in Sweden and Macquarie University



    in Australia. He was a senior fulbright fellow at MIT and Harvard



    University as well as a visiting fellow at the Swedish National Institute for



    Worklife Research. He has been a Shaw Foundation Visiting Professor at



    Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He is a joint editor of International



    and Comparative Employment Relations (Sage Books) now in its



    sixth edition. His research has focused on comparative employment relations



    in various industry sectors including auto manufacturing, banking



    and mining.