한국의 청년세대 노동자 운동: 보수적 노동운동의 부상인가 정치적 스펙트럼의 다양화인가?

Recent literature tends to emphasize the rise of business unionism among young workers in South Korea. However, there has been a relative lack of systematic comparison of various cases of young workers’ movements, particularly regarding intra-generational differences and varieties of unionism, as well as theoretical explanations for the factors contributing to the success of organizing efforts led by young workers. This article investigates the movements of millennial and Gen Z workers in South Korea through comparative research on the Korean Railway Workers’ Union, the Refresh Workers’ Council, and the Riders' Union. It contends that these young workers’ movements encompass a wide political spectrum, including business unionism, participatory democracy, and social movement unionism. It also emphasizes that the emergence of these movements can be attributed not only to structural conditions―such as changes in the age composition of the workforce and the growth of new industries―but also to agency factors including the strategic capacity of activists to organize workers’ grievances into common demands, and the support from existing labor unions, other social movement organizations and older generation activists in nurturing young activists.