Making
a Workers Political Force in Korea
Korea Labour & Society Institute
The organic combination
of economic struggle and political struggle is the basic task of
the trade union movement. Trade unions have promoted various forms
of political activity to achieve this task. This political activity
has taken the form of not only acquirement of state power through
electoral or insurrectionary politics, but also through use of political
influence, and direct participation in the process of creating and
implementing state policies. Workers' political empowerment
means that the working class develops into a social force with influence
and potential by strengthening its capacity in the political sphere.
In this sense, it can be conceptualized as follows: to build an
autonomous party for the political activities of trade unions, to
participate in the policy-making institutions of the government
through involvement at the various electoral levels and/or to acquire
state power partly or wholly. The organizational form
and organizing method for workers' political empowerment depends
on the historical conditions on which a society stands. Presently,
the current task for making labor movement into a political force
is the construction of a workers party and the fostering of social
forces that can support a workers party. A workers party is the
highest level of working class organization, because the political
party is built upon a class base, not an occupational base. A workers
party ultimately sets up capital, bourgeois parties and state power
as the struggle target. Additionally, a fundamental transformation
of capitalist society is the strategic goal of a workers party.
Without making workers a social force, it is impossible to build
this kind of political party. Making workers a social force means
to identify their class identity and social position, to strengthen
alliances with civil society movements, and to develop the labor
movement. 2. The Basic Framework
for Workers' Political Empowerment Subjecthood
It is very important
to set up the subjects of workers' political empowerment as: the
working-class, trade unions and organizations in the labor movement.
However, that doesn't mean that workers' political empowerment can
be driven by the working-class alone. It can only be realized when
the working-class marches in cooperation with the people's movement,
which must be supported by a wide-ranging participation of ordinary
people. Above all, the role of the trade union movement is critical
in the course of forming a workers' party. As such, trade union
movement must play the most active part in making the strategies
and the tactics for workers' political empowerment. But we should
not neglect the fact that a workers party and the trade union movement
must be autonomous from and independent of each other. Strategic Goal and
Ideology The strategic goal of
workers' political empowerment cannot help but follow the ideological
line of the labor movement and the people's movement which reflects
the contradictory structure of Korean society. This line is the
radical transformation of Korean society, i.e. substantial democratization
or democratic revolution by way of political, economic, and social
reform. But that doesn't mean that the ideology of workers' political
empowerment is socialism in the traditional sense. The political situations
surrounding the movement make it difficult for the labor movement
to come to power via electoral politics. If so, for the time being,
it would be realistic to pursue greater unity of labor, social and
political movements in order to take power. And the starting point
is the consolidation of cooperation and alliances between labor
organizations and political organizations. These are the principles
for making workers a political force, principles we have learned
from the history of labor movements in other countries. A Workers Party
The party as the basis
of workers' political empowerment would be one that is rooted in
workers, is progressive, and that supports the mass/popular movement.
And it would be a legal party, which participates in the electoral
system and works to gain people's support. Therefore, above all,
it is very important that a workers' party keep strong solidarity
with all kind of people's movements, social movements, national-democratic
movements, and civil society movements. The growth of a workers'
party could be guaranteed only through the strengthening of workers'
capacity in the social sphere, so a workers party must make its
social position as a party for the common people clear. 3. The Current Tasks
for Workers' Political Empowerment It would be very difficult
for a workers' party to overcome various obstacles confronted in
the course of making a political force. If so, what is to be done
at the present stage? - The trade union movement
must set up a long-term goal, decide the tactics of the political
movement and construct a practical plan for every stage. It is necessary
that discussion meetings be held at all levels to resolve various
competing views and to concentrate them into a united political
course. - Workers' party as
a political force must necessarily lead workers' struggles and contribute
to the development of social movements. It is necessary that the
trade union movement heighten workers' autonomy and political awakening,
prepare concrete plans to continually improve trade union officers'
capacity for theoretical analysis, and foster their political abilities.
At the same time, widening the sphere and influence of the workers'
political movement must not be neglected. - To strengthen the
capacity of this political force, all efforts must be undertaken
to make alliances and have solidarity with people's movement, progressive
political movements, and civil society movements. But, that must
not lead to an "egotism" of the working class. The labor
movement must do its best to protect people's rights to live and
to meet people's need through many different activities.
- The trade union movement
must be prepared to confront the continued assaults of the ruling
conservative forces. This means strengthening popular organizations
in their struggles and strengthening political organizations that
are backed by the people. - Through political
training and awareness-building aimed at not only the trade union
officers but also the rank-and-file union members, a common understanding
should be spread and the active participation of the common people
must be fostered. According to a this study, trade union members'
consciousness of the importance of political empowerment is somewhat
crude, and there is a deep and wide gap between the leadership and
the rank-and-file, as well as among the different industries, occupations,
and native regions. The reason for this is that until now political
training and education was focused mainly on union officers and
conducted imperfectly. - For a party to be
viable, the activities and functions of the trade union movement
at the regional/local level must be reinforced, particularly since
electoral politics depend on strong regional foundations.
The participation of the trade union movement in the forthcoming general election in the year 2000 will be a good opportunity to test if it is capable of carrying out the tasks above. |