Last Year, 2.93 Million Union Members Nationwide... Increased by 128,000 in One Year

The Unionization Rate of Truly Struggling Small Businesses Is Only 0.2%

Last year, the number of labor union members nationwide reached 2,933,000, an increase of 128,000 compared to the previous year. The unionization rate remained the same at 14.2%.

On the 25th, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the "2021 National Labor Union Organization Status" containing this information.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the total number of union members was 2,933,000, up 128,000 from 2,805,000 in 2020.

The unionization rate was 14.2%, unchanged from the previous year. This is because the total number of union members increased by 128,000 (4.6%) compared to the previous year, and the number of workers subject to unionization also increased by 795,000 (4.0%).

The unionization rate refers to the proportion of total union members among workers subject to unionization. Workers prohibited from joining unions, such as soldiers, police officers, and other public officials, as well as principals and vice principals, are excluded from the workers subject to unionization.

By organizational type, 1,771,000 members (60.4%) belonged to industrial unions, while 1,162,000 members (39.6%) belonged to enterprise unions.

By higher-level organization, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) had 1,238,000 members (42.2%), the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) had 1,213,000 members (41.3%), and unaffiliated unions (no higher-level organization) had 477,000 members (16.3%).

Unionization rates by sector were 11.2% in the private sector, 70.0% in the public sector, 75.3% in the public official sector, and 18.8% in the education sector.

Unionization rates by workplace size were 46.3% for workplaces with 300 or more employees, 10.4% for 100?299 employees, 1.6% for 30?99 employees, and 0.2% for fewer than 30 employees.

Lee Jeong-han, Director of Labor Policy at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, stated, "While large-scale and public sectors continue to show high unionization rates, the unionization rate in small-scale, vulnerable enterprises that require more protection remains minimal. Since unions are not representing vulnerable workers in small enterprises, the government plans to focus its efforts on protecting unorganized workers who lack protection and resolving the dual structure of the labor market."

On the 30th of last month, officials belonging to the Seoul Metropolitan Government-related workplaces of the Public Transport Union held a joint strike rally near Seoul Plaza in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.