earticle

영어

This trip is the second one to South America, since I made the first trip in 1997, when the 15th World Congress of the ISLLSS was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The 14th World Congress was hosted to Seoul in 1994, where around 2,000 gathered from all around the world. As the General Secretary of the Organizing Committee of the Seoul Congress, I had to take care of the biggest congress in the history of the Society with six different languages including Russian. The 15th World Congress was open with a minute of silence to the late Professor Kim Chi-sun, who took over the presidency of the Society in 1994 but passed away in 1996. As the chairperson of the second plenary session, I proceeded the session in German, after I consulted with Professor Wolfgang Däubler. At the Executive Committee Meeting, which was convened before the opening of the 20th World Congress in Santiago de Chile, the Organizing Committee reported that around 750 people from 47 countries registered themselves. The Executive Committee made the following statutory appointments, all by acclamation and all for the term 2012-2015: ⅰ. Secretary General: Giuseppe Casale (Italy/ILO); ⅱ. Treasurer: Stefano Bellomo, Italy ⅲ. Auditor: Stein Evju, Norway, (reconducted) ⅳ. Vice-presidents: Ms. Martine Le Friant (France), Ms Marylyn Christianson (South Africa), Messrs Miroslav Belina (Czech Republic), Kwang-Taek Lee (Korea), Emilio Morgado(Chile) At the closing of the Congress Professor Adrián Goldin of Argentina was to take over the presidency of the Society from Professor Michal Sewerynski of Poland. Dr. Giuseppe Casale of Italy took over the mission of Secretary General from Arturo Bronstein, who had served the post for 11 years. I reported at the Committee the preparation of the 9th Asian Regional Congress. The general report on Theme Ⅰ“The effectiveness of Labour Law and the role of the Labour Inspection”was made by Dr. Giuseppe Casale, Director, Labour Administration and Inspection Programme of ILO. He urged that there is a need to focus on certain issues, such as the priority areas for a country’s action, in terms of achieving an effective labour inspection system: Drawing up national policies and programmes, Lifelong learning, Cooperation with public and private institutions with regard to the inspectorate’s operations, Strengthening relations with worker and employer representatives, Improve administrative procedures and provide an incentive to enhance the deterrent effect of sanctions, Improve international collaboration, Information and communication technologies. The general report on Theme Ⅱ “Sexual and Moral Harassment in the Workplace” was made by two young male professors Sergio Gamonal C. of University Adolfo Ibáñez and Jose Luis Ugarte C. of University Diego Portales. The Chilean professors emphasized that since the seventies, working systems have been emphasizing the defense of human rights or fundamental rights of workers. The labor doctrine refers to Enterprise Citizenship or Nonspecific Labour Rights. They cited Kahn-Freund “the relation between the employer and an isolated worker is typically a relation between a power‘s titular and someone without any power (…) It is originated by an act of submission and produces a situation of subordination, despite the fact that it can be disguised by a juridical fiction known as the . The principal aim of Labour Law has always been –and we can say, will be- to constitute a counter balance to equilibrate the inequality of negotiating power inherent to the labour relation.” After the general report and the panel discussion, I made a presetation on the situation in Korea: The term “sexual harassment” had not been found in the positive legislation, until the Framework Act on Women Development(WDFA) was enacted on December 30, 1995. The judicial court began to use the term “sexual harassment” on February 10, 1998, when the Supreme Court sent the case back to the Seoul Appellate Court repealing its decision after two and half years on theory of the compensation of the mental damages. Sixteen months after the Supreme Court’s decision, the Seoul Appellate Court on June 25, 1999 held that the defendant’s conduct of sexual harassment constituted unlawful act and ordered the defendant to pay a 5 mill. won(USD 4,644) in damages. Korea is characterized for tackling the sexual harassment not only from the viewpoint of working environment of workplace, but also from the general feminism and further from the human rights. The Government ressorts for the prevention, dispute settlement and punishment of the sexual harassment are the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family(MOGEF), the Ministry of Employment and Labor(MOEL) and the National Human Rights Commission(NHRC). The general report on Theme Ⅲ “Strike as a Fundamental Right and Its Risks of Conflicting with other Fundamental Rights of the Citizens” was made by Professor Bernd Waas, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany. He conclued that the constitutions of many States have explicitly recognised the right to strike. In others, it is not explicit but implied. In several States it is not possible to speak of a right but only of a freedom to strike. However, the issue is not whether the right to strike exists, but whether there are limits on the modality of engaging in industrial conflict. Some time ago the following was observed: “The problems most frequently arising in connection with the right to strike are: the imposition of compulsory arbitration by decision of the authorities or at the initiative of one of the parties; the imposition of penal sanctions for organizing or participating in unlawful strikes; the requirement of an excessively large majority of votes to be able to call a strike; the ban on strikes by public servants who do not exercise authority in the name of the State; the power forcibly to requisition striking workers and, in many countries, the ban on strikes in certain non-essential services”.