① FKTU decides to walk out of labor market reform talks
The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) held an urgent central executive committee meeting on 8 April and declared its intention to walk out of discussions on structural reform of the labor market. In a statement, the FKTU blamed the failure of these discussions on the difference of opinion between the tripartite members on the FKTU’s 5 core demands* as well as 5 items the FKTU found unacceptable. In the same statement, the FKTU gave acceptance of their core demands and recognition of their 5 items as unacceptable as conditions for resumption of negotiations.
* The FKTU presented 5 core demands on 7 April: ∆ increase minimum wage; ∆ apply the Labor Standards Act (LSA) on workplaces with fewer than 5 employees, ∆ implement a quota for youth employment, ∆ restrict the use of non-regular workers for safety-related work, and ∆ employ regular workers for constant and continuous work.
The FKTU plans to block the government’s follow-up actions related to labor market reform through political and industrial action of its own.
The president of the FKTU, Dong-man Kim, demanded at a local trade union representatives meeting on 16 April that the government stop labor market reform and ordered the use of labor strife to block government attempts at legislative revision and establishment of guidelines. The FKTU also committed itself to engaging in intense industrial action during wage and collective bargaining periods after the National Workers’ Rally on 1 May.
However, it is expected that the National Assembly will not be able to immediately carry on labor issue discussions in earnest at this time, although the government has attempted to make legislative changes by transferring some issues to the National Assembly, such as ∆ defining ‘ordinary wage’ and money & valuables that should be excluded; and ∆ including holiday work in extended work. Because of this planned government action, the FKTU seems to be focusing on using the political community to block government action on ∆ standards & processes for changing employment contracts, and ∆ standards for changing employment rules.
The FKTU plans to hold high-level and working-level policy conferences with both the ruling and opposition parties to urge the political community to pay attention to problems in the Ministry of Employment & Labor’s (MOEL) administrative guidance and manual. On 2 April, the FKTU delivered a document entitled ‘Problems with the MOEL Administrative Guidance & Manual’ in a policy meeting with the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) and has urged the political community to block the government’s guidelines regarding standards for general dismissal and unfavorable changes to employment rules.
[Table 1] Positions on Agenda Items in the Special Committee on Structural Reform of the Labor Market
|
Labor |
Management |
Government |
|
|
Ordinary wage |
ㆍDelete requirement of incumbencyㆍOpposed to labor-management agreement justifying exclusion of items from calculation of ordinary wage | ㆍSpecify payment period of 1 monthㆍAllow exclusion of items from calculation of ordinary wage upon labor-management agreement (according to company size) | ㆍDefine money and valuables excluded from calculation of ordinary wage in Enforcement Decree to the Labor Standards ActㆍAccept labor-management agreement (introduce open clauses) |
|
Including holiday work in extended work |
Include holiday work in extended work (52 hours per week in principle) | ||
| ㆍExtra pay for overlapping hoursㆍOpposed to additional extended workㆍImplement immediately | ㆍ No extra pay for overlapping hoursㆍ Allow additional extended work without restrictionㆍImplement in stages by company size | ㆍ Agree in principle to extra pay for overlapping hours, but with restrictionsㆍAllow additional extended work with restrictionsㆍImplement in stages by company size | |
|
Employment & labor contracts |
ㆍOpposed to government guidelinesㆍStrengthen requirements for managerial dismissal | ㆍAdjust employment (dismissals, redeployment, etc.) for low-performing workersㆍIntroduce general cancellation of employment contractsㆍEase requirements for managerial dismissal | ㆍEstablish guidelines for standards and procedures of general employment cancellationㆍClarify requirements for managerial dismissal |
|
Changing working conditions |
ㆍMaintain current law | ㆍEase requirements for making unfavorable changes to employment rules | ㆍImprove standards and processes for changing employment rules (guidelines) |
② KCTU focuses on general strike in April
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) announced its approval on 13 April for a vote on whether to hold a general strike.
The KCTU declared the results of the vote showed that a majority of the total members approved a general strike and plans to use the voting results to encourage union members to participate (the KCTU insists that the approval rate was 84.35% of ballots cast). However, public institutions under the Korean Public & Social Services and Transport Workers’ Unions (KPTU) collected signatures, and did not hold a typical vote. It is questionable that voter participation somehow equaled 65.11% despite the fact that the Korean Government Employees Union (KGEU), the National Union of Media Workers (NUM) and some KCTU-affiliated trade unions did not hold a vote at all.
[Table 2] KCTU General Strike Vote: Results
|
Voting Period |
Total Members |
Ballots Cast | Approval |
| 21 March ~ 8 April | 658,719 | 428,884(65.11%) |
361,743 (54.92% of total members) |
The KCTU gave ‘Guidelines on the General Strike’ to its affiliated trade unions on 15 April and held rallies in major regions focusing on civil service pensions, plans for privatization and normalization of public institutions, and non-regular employment for the general strike from 24 April to 30 April.
[Table 3] Major KCTU Events
| ㆍ16 April: Rally on general strike declaration (commemorate Sewol ferry disaster afterwards)ㆍ16 April ~ 23 April: Protest by KCTU executive and industrial trade unionsㆍ24 April: General strike (held by regions, focus on Seoul as the capital area)
* 23 April ~ 30 April: Week of general strike ㆍ1 May: Workers’ Day |
The KCTU also held a ‘2015 Selection of Killer Companies’ ceremony*’ on 13 April and a rally on the general strike declaration on 16 April to connect with the 1st anniversary of the Sewol ferry disaster to build unity for the general strike and draw attention to occupational safety problems.
* The KCTU selected Chonghaejin Marine Co., Ltd. as the ‘Worst Killer Company of the Decade’ this year.