Labor continues its action against labor market reform
The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) plans to fight against labor reform legislation through politicians, urging the Justice Party in a policy meeting to do so. The Justice Party said that it will focus on blocking the passage of labor reform bills including the Act on the Protection, Etc. of Fixed-term and Part-time Workers and the Act on the Protection, Etc. of Temporary Agency Workers. The FKTU plans to hold a policy meeting with Chairman Moo-sung Kim of the Saenuri Party and Chairman Jae-in Moon of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) right after discussions on redefining electoral districts for National Assembly elections between the ruling and opposition parties.
The FKTU also sent an official letter to the chairman of the National Assembly on 16 December to block the introduction of labor reform bills. On 23 December, the FKTU held its central executive committee meeting and discussed legislative measures to break the Tripartite Agreement, and withdraw from the Tripartite Commission.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) also opposes the labor market reforms and held an illegal and political general strike on 16 December with car manufacturer unions in the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU) including the Hyundai Motors·Kia Motors unions. Participants totaled 74,000, including the Hyundai Motors branch union (47,000), the Kia Motors branch union (23,000), and the GM Korea branch union under the KMWU. However, the GM Korea branch union did not actually go on strike, but simply participated in the general strike during its hours of union member education. Hyundai Motors and Kia Motors faced a production shortfall of 3,577 cars (Hyundai Motors 2,215 cars, Kia Motors 1,362 cars) and a profit loss of 71 billion KRW (Hyundai Motors 45.7 billion KRW, Kia Motors 25.2 billion KRW) due to these actions by the Hyundai Motors branch union and Kia Motors branch union.
The KCTU plans to continue its actions against labor reform legislation, and held a general rally on 19 December with civic groups (with approximately 2,500 participants).
Meanwhile, the two umbrella unions’ Joint Public Struggle Office for the manufacturing sector held a rally to protest the labor market reforms in front of the National Assembly on 29 December.