By Jane Han
Staff Reporter

South Korea's labor militancy has been a chronic problem that overseas firms doing business here have had to deal with, but they expressed their concern Wednesday over the government's plan to introduce a multiple union system next year.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI), the nation's largest business lobby group, asked 300 foreign firms whether they were for or against the new measure, which will allow more than two unions at a single company starting January.

Some 71 percent said they were against the system, the poll showed, while 29 percent said they supported the plan.

The new set of laws has been delayed for more than a decade due to opposition from labor groups.

But if the government pushes through the labor rules, a guaranteed negotiation channel must be established, more than 80 percent of respondents said.

As part of its labor policies, the Lee Myung-bak administration plans to allow multiple unions at each workplace and ban companies from paying wages to full-time union representatives.

An official of the KCCI said the government must take into consideration foreign companies' views on the issue to upgrade the nation's labor policies.

"Having numerous unions within one workplace is going to end up leading to chaos," he said, adding that overseas investors are expressing concerns over the plan.

According to the survey, nearly 80 percent of foreign companies said they consider labor-management relations prior to making an investment decision. But the results show that their impression of Korean labor unions isn't positive.

Eighty-five percent said Korean labor activities were combative, while only 15 percent said they were cooperative.

What foreign investors don't like most is the way unions tag team with a common political agenda.

A majority of respondents answered that a toxic linkup among various unions is one of the most problematic labor movement issues.

More than 32 percent pointed to workers' unwillingness to communicate and negotiate as another problem they see in the local labor market, while 20 percent highlighted the failure to establish a no-work-no-pay system.

The remaining respondents said the customary practice of tolerating illegal labor activities should be overhauled.

jhan@koreatimes.co.kr