일본의 커뮤니티 유니온의 현황과 법적 쟁점에 관한 검토

Community Union is a unique form of labor union, which was created due to the flaw of Japan’s labor union system and the crises of labor movement and employment caused by that flaw. It is defined as “a labor union based on a community rather than a company or an industry with individual membership in principle.”Community union is a natural result of meeting workers’ needs, and was formed based on communities. Since these unions do not aim inter-organizational integrations or establishment of industry-specific labor unions, each community union is independent. Community unions major role is providing labor counseling and settling labor disputes. Community unions organize their members through labor counseling, work with members to settle labor disputes and expand their social influence by sensitively responding to new labor issues. In regards to legal basis of community unions, their legitimacy is questionable since all community unions give membership to unemployed. In addition, guaranteeing the right for collective bargaining to community unions and extending the concept of the right for collective bargaining are also important legal issues. Concrete implications of Japan's community union movement for Korea's stagnant labor movement and union-management relationship deserve a thorough evaluation in terms of movement theory. The first clause of article 33 of the Korean Constitution guarantees the three rights to labor more clearly than the Japanese Constitution. This fact deserves a modern interpretation. It is also essential to review the role of the government in guaranteeing the three rights to labor.