① KCTU plans a general strike in April
On 19 February, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) held its central executive committee meeting and confirmed detailed plans for a general strike in April. The KCTU also held a rally with individual workplace representatives on 20 March, to encourage affiliated trade unions to participate in the general strike.
The KCTU will hold a vote from 21 March to 8 April on its strike plans and policies for 2015, and a press conference on 1 April to mark the beginning of the general strike. Afterwards, the KCTU will hold ‘relay rallies’ for affiliated trade unions during the second and third week of April, as well as public propaganda campaigns, seemingly to garner more support for its general strike.
[Table 1] Detailed Plans for KCTU General Strike in April
|
First Stage (20 March ~ 31 March) |
Voting and preparation for the general strike |
|
Second Stage (1 April ~ 15 April) |
Declaration of general strike and promotion |
| Third Stage(16 April ~ 24 April) |
General strike commences |
The KCTU is going to launch a week of general strike from 24 April to 30 April, to progress industrial union-led rallies by raising issues such as reforming the structure of the labor market, reforming the civil service pension, privatization and normalization of public institutions, and non-regular employment.
However, a considerable number of industrial unions are reluctant to participate in a general strike because there seems no justification for such action. Also, the KCTU is finding it difficult to raise the necessary money to prepare for the strike, deciding to levy a fee of KRW 10,000 per union member at the regular convention on 12 February, but currently having raised only around KRW 20 million.
② 2015 Collective bargaining in the financial sector on wage, working hours, & employment security
The Korean Finance & Service Workers’ Union (KFSWU) under the KCTU held a Collective Agreement Committee meeting on 13 March, to discuss direction and proposals for collective bargaining this year.
The KFSWU plans to request negotiation at the end of March or the beginning of April to reach a settlement before summer vacation season begins in June. However, it appears difficult to engage in wage negotiations and collective bargaining as planned when considering industry-level bargaining practices. Periods for industry-level bargaining are different, as the stock market industry will engage in unified collective bargaining in the second half of the year. In addition to this, all head offices in the insurance industry (except for life insurance) indicated their opposition to initiating collective bargaining at the end of March or the beginning of April.
During collective bargaining this year, the KFSWU is going to demand a wage hike of 5.8%+ɑ*, a 40 hour work week, implementation of automatic computer shutdown systems (employee computers will shut off automatically at the end of regular working hours), reversal of restructuring plans, decent employment, and right for better health care for union members.
* ɑ: wage increase rate (5.8%) = economic growth rate (3.4%) + inflation rate (1.9%) and income distribution rate (0.5%)
The Korean Finance Industry Union (KFIU) under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) held a workshop for branch union representatives from 19 to 20 March, to discuss direction and proposals for collective bargaining this year. By taking into account that the agenda for industrial bargaining is limited to wage this year, the KFIU seems to request discussions with regard to wage hike of 6%+ɑ, mandatory extension of retirement age to 60 and wage peak system.