1. FKTU returns to the tripartite dialogue while KCTU strengthening struggle against the government’s normalization plan in the public sector.
The government is expected to initiate dialogue concerning the reduction of working hours and other issues with the executive branches of two major umbrella unions and their affiliated industrial unions, as well as the restoration of the Tripartite Committee discussions. At the Tripartite Committee representatives meeting on 29 July, the government (MOEL and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance) and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) agreed to investigate the formation of a labor-government conference system for normalization of public institutions (a public institutions consultative group).
The FKTU decided on 13 August to return to the Tripartite Committee (a labor-government consultation committee), utilizing the Tripartite Committee representative meeting on 29 July as justification for the move. The FKTU is expected to demand that since it (the FKTU) returned to the Tripartite Committee, the government and the ruling party should raise the government subsidies for labor organizations, as well as other pro-labor amendments to the labor laws.
However, struggles such as a general strike in early September by the public sector union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) are expected to continue at industrial sites. Trade unions in the public sector are planning to focus on securing the right to strike in order to participate in general strikes by the public sector in workplaces affiliated with the KCTU.
2. The KCTU prepares for direct election of its executive for 7 days from 3 December.
The KCTU carried out reorganization of its secretariat to establish a direct election headquarters (planning team, organization team I, organization team II) to prepare for the election of executive members in the second half of the year.
[Table 1] KCTU Plan for Direct Election
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Date
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Details
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Date
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Details
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30 Aug.
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Voting on circuit and registration for Automated Response System(ARS) voting
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3 ~ 7 Nov.
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Candidate registration
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2 Oct.
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Public notice of elections
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8 Nov.
~ 2 Dec
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Election campaign
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2 ~ 13 Oct.
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Electoral registration
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3 ~ 9 Dec.
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Balloting
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14 ~ 30 Oct.
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Objections and Determination
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9 Dec.
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Vote count
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However, direct election has been postponed three times from 2009 to 2013 by the KCTU. Conflicts over the qualifications of union members and fraudulent elections are highly likely to be magnified. In the process of amendment and enactment of the direct election system rules and regulations, the KCTU has faced conflicts regarding the double-registration of union members, allocation of the right to vote according to the status of affiliate organization fees, monitoring of the polls in workplaces of security areas such as airports, and voters who vote through ARS