By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Labor unions and business leaders are clashing over the amount of minimum wage for this year. While the workers are requesting 4,450 won per hour, 18 percent up from last year's 3,770 won due to soaring living costs, management are sticking to a 2 percent rise of 3,925 won for the same reason.
The Minimum Wage Council, consisting of government officials, umbrella union leaders and businessmen held a marathon negotiation from Wednesday but failed to reach an agreement.
On Wednesday, delegates from Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and Federation of Korean Trade Unions walked away from the table due to an alleged ``irreconcilable difference.'' The unionists initially called for 26.3 percent.
``We are not asking too much. We are fighting to secure only half the average income Korean workers make. We are struggling to make it a 994,840 won salary a month,'' KCTU spokeswoman Woo Mun-suk said. ``The labor users are trying to extort cheap manpower under the excuse of `economic crisis,' '' she said.
The groups alleged that there are more than 3.09 million people among 16 million workers making less than 880,000 won a month, which worsens the socioeconomic gap here.
``Doesn't the government or businessmen know if the living cost rises then the wage should go up, too?'' a KCTU member said.
However, their counterpart, the Korea Employers Federation and others refused such a ``dramatic'' increase because they cannot afford to pay them. Lee Soo-young, Chairman of the KEF, criticized the government on Thursday morning for not taking a stronger stance against the workers' request.
``Candlelit vigils against American beef imports have shaken society as a whole while import costs have risen by 83 percent from last year. Still the labor unions are holding illegal political strikes and are asking for a raise in minimum wage on the other hand,'' Lee said.
An association of supermarket owners and other small-size businessmen on Wednesday also urged that the wage raise should be according to the growth of productivity or sales. ``The economy is worse than ever for us. Having to give more money to the workers is impossible ㅡ what's left is to lay off the staff,'' the Small Businessmen's Association said in a press release.
The council is to report the fixed wage to the Labor Minister by Sunday to help him announce the final amount by Aug. 5.