TY - BOOK AU - Lee,Byoung-hoon AU - Yoo,Hyung-geun TI - The rise and fall of independent immigrant worker unionism: a case study of the migrants trade union in South Korea SN - 00221856 AV - HD8391 JOU PY - 2013/// CY - London PB - Sage KW - Immigrant workers' unionism KW - Immigration labor policy KW - Migrant workers KW - South Korea N2 - Our study examines how the Migrants Trade Union, symbolizing the unionism of independent immigrant workers, was formed and has evolved in South Korea. This case study shows that immigrant workers are organizable. Independent unionization of immigrant workers has been achieved under the very hostile environment of the Korean government’s restrictionist immigration labor policy and union suppression. The independent immigrant workers’ unionism has grown remarkably from the Equality Trade Union – Migrant Branch to the Migrants Trade Union in a short period, but its achievements through the intense struggles of immigrant workers at the bottom of the labor market remain fragile. Furthermore, its core essence – organizational subjectivity – is faltering in the face of many formidable obstacles from both inside and outside the union. The rise and fall of independent immigrant worker unionism in Korea are explained by five interacting factors: the government’s immigration labor policy; the behavioral orientations of immigrant workers; the migrant workers support movement; the indigenous labor movement; and the immigrant workers’ struggles UR - https://doi.org/10.1177/0022185612473217 ER -