The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) is an international federation of trade unions established in 1945. Founded in the immediate aftermath of World War Two, the organization built on the pre-war legacy of the International Federation of Trade Unions as a single structure for trade unions world-wide, following the World Trade Union Conference in London, United Kingdom.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), literally translated as National Confederation of Democratic Trade Unions, also known as Minju-nochong is a national trade union centre in South Korea officially established in 1995. Its predecessor was the National Council of Trade Unions (NCTU), established in 1990 as an independent, democratically operated alternative to the Federation of Korean Trade Unions.
In British politics, an affiliated trade union is one that is linked to the Labour Party. The party was created by the trade unions and socialist societies in 1900 as the Labour Representation Committee and the unions have retained close institutional links with it.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), or more fully the Automotive, Food, Metals, Engineering, Printing and Kindred Industries Union, is an Australian trade union. The AMWU represents a broad range of workers in the manufacturing sector, as well as associated industries, and is affiliated to the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
Pak Hon-yong was a Korean independence activist, politician, philosopher, communist activist and one of the main leaders of the Korean communist movement during Japan's colonial rule (1910–1945). His nickname was Ijong (이정) and Ichun (이춘), his courtesy name being Togyong (덕영).
The General Federation of Trade Unions of Korea is the sole legal trade union federation in North Korea. GFTUK was formed on November 30, 1945 as the General Federation of Trade Unions of North Korea. In January 1951, it was reorganized and adopted its current name. The chairman of the central committee of GFTUK is Pak In-chol.
The Sheet Metal Workers' International Association was a trade union of skilled metal workers who perform architectural sheet metal work, fabricate and install heating and air conditioning work, shipbuilding, appliance construction, heater and boiler construction, precision and specialty parts manufacture, and a variety of other jobs involving sheet metal. On August 11, 2014, it merged with the United Transportation Union (UTU) to form the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, known by the acronym, SMART.
The Workers' Party of South Korea (Korean: 남조선로동당) was a communist party in South Korea from 1946 to 1949. It is also sometimes colloquially referred to as the "Namro Party". It was founded on 23 November 1946 through the merger of the Communist Party of South Korea, New People's Party of Korea and a faction of the People's Party of Korea. It was led by Ho Hon.
The Workers' Party of Korea (WPK) is the founding and sole ruling party of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea. Founded in 1949 from the merger of the Workers' Party of North Korea and the Workers' Party of South Korea, the WPK is the oldest active party in Korea. It also controls the Korean People's Army, North Korea's armed forces. The WPK is the largest party represented in the Supreme People's Assembly and coexists with two other legal parties making up the Democratic Front for the Reunification of Korea. However, these minor parties are completely subservient to the WPK and must accept the WPK's "leading role" as a condition of their existence. The WPK is banned in South Korea under the National Security Act and is sanctioned by the United Nations, the European Union, Australia, and the United States.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on December 30 2021 that as of 2020, 14.2% of workers were in trade unions in South Korea, a 1.7% increase from 12.5% in 2019. Korea's unionization rate peaked in 1989 at 19.8% and fell to 10% 2004.
The supreme leader of North Korea is the de facto paramount leader of the Workers' Party of Korea, the state and the Korean People's Army. The title has not been written into the national constitution as a separate office, however the president of the State Affairs Commission is, de facto, the supreme leader of North Korea. Likewise, according to the WPK Charter, the general secretary of the WPK is the supreme leader of the Workers' Party. Formerly, under Kim Jong Il, this title was bestowed on the office of Chairman of the National Defence Commission, who was also the WPK general secretary. The first leader of the state prior to the existence of North Korea was Terenty Shtykov who served as the head of the Soviet Civil Administration, the governing authority controlled by the Soviet Union that ruled the northern half of Korea from 1945 to 1948.
The Korean Railway Workers' Union (KRWU), also known as Cheoldo(-)nojo in Korean language, is a labor union of metal workers in South Korea. The KRWU was founded in March 1947 as the Transportation Ministry Association, affiliated with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions.
The Trade Union International of Workers in the Metal Industry was a trade union international affiliated to the World Federation of Trade Unions.
Events from the year 2001 in South Korea.
Nippon Steel Corporation was formed in 2012 by the merger of the old Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal. The old Nippon Steel Corporation was established in 1970 by the merger of Fuji Iron & Steel and Yawata Iron & Steel. Nippon Steel is the world's third largest steel producer by volume as of 2019.
The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART) is a North American labor union headquartered in Washington, D. C., was chartered by the AFL–CIO in 2013. The product of a merger between the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association (SMWIA) and the United Transportation Union (UTU), SMART represents over 210,000 sheet metal workers, service technicians, bus operators, engineers, conductors, sign workers, welders, and production employees, among others, throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada. The Transportation Division represents employees on Class I railroad, Amtrak, and regional and short line railroads; bus and mass transit employees on some 45 transit systems; and airline pilots, flight attendants, dispatchers and other airport personnel. The Division's 500 local unions organize conductors, brakemen, switch men, ground service personnel, locomotive engineers, hostlers, and railroad yard masters, as well as bus drivers and mechanics.
Kim So-yeon is a labor activist in the Republic of Korea and currently on the executive committee of Creating a World Without a Temporary Worker.
While Microsoft workers in the United States do not have a current labor union, this is expected to change with the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which recognizes a union in one of its subsidiaries.
