재벌기업의 노동통제 연구 - 한화그룹 사례 연구 -

This paper aims to analyze the evolution of labor control in Korean chaebol through an examination of industrial relations in the Hanwha Group. To achieve this, a conceptual framework was developed based on the ideas of labor control and chaebol as a corporate group, which served to identify the characteristics and changes in labor control methods observed in Hanwha Group. The findings indicate that Hanwha Group’s approach to labor control relies not only on traditional labor control methods, but also on the use of ‘power at a distance’. In traditional forms of labor control—simple control and bureaucratic control—the influence of the parent company is overtly present. However, with power at a distance, the parent company’s influence becomes less visible. Control through distant power operates in two distinct ways. First, chaebols can use the boundaries between affiliates to exert significant influence over affiliate labor relations without appearing directly involved in negotiations. Second, they can weaken the capacity of trade unions by indirectly, and at times deliberately, isolating workers and creating multiple unions through continuous organizational changes. This paper underscores the growing influence of chaebols in Korean industrial relations and emphasizes the need to address chaebol dynamics to rebalance labor-management power relations.