A session to determine the minimum wage for next year was held Tuesday by a tripartite committee comprising labor, management and government representatives in southern Seoul. It tentatively agreed to raise the wage 2.75 percent to 4,110 won ($3.2) per hour. / Korea Times |
Growth Rate Far From Satisfactory for Laborers, Part-Time Workers
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
A tripartite committee comprising labor, management and government representatives tentatively agreed Tuesday to raise the nation's minimum wage 2.75 percent to 4,110 won ($3.2) per hour, according to the Ministry of Labor.
This is the lowest increase in more than a decade, and labor groups complain that employers and the government are trying to burden ordinary workers, who can hardly make a living with minimum wage, with the economic slump.
The panel committee consisting of a labor ministry official, representatives of management and the two umbrella union groups ― the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) ― produced the tentative settlement after marathon negotiations. If the labor minister approve the amount, the money will be fixed for next year.
Labor representatives originally asked for a more than 28 percent raise, citing soaring living costs, while management sought a 5.7 percent reduction due to sluggish business.
Some experts expressed concerns that the hike may make employers more hesitant to hire workers or even force them to fire employees to offset higher wage costs. Moon Hyung-nam, leader of the committee, said, ``The wage hike could see management refraining from hiring people.''
On the other hand, the workers' representatives said the increase wasn't enough. The 2.75 percent rise is marginally higher than that of 1998, right after the Asian financial crisis when many companies shut down and the government ran out money to support them.
``Why is it always the workers who have to take the responsibility for mismanagement or economic difficulties? The increase is far from enough to allow them to make a living,'' the FKTU spokesman Kang Choong-ho said.
There is further criticism that the government has failed to come up with proper oversight on wage payments. There are 2.2 million people who do not even receive minimum wage, according to the National Statistical Office.
Shin, a 26 year-old student who declined to identify herself, works at a coffee shop for eight hours a day. Though she has the ``right'' to be paid at least 4,000 won an hour based on the Minimum Wage Law, she receives about 3,500 won.
The owner told her that the store cannot afford to hire ``expensive staff'' and she is free to leave if she wants to. ``But I heard it happens in many other places and I thought I had no option,'' she said.
She doesn't expect the new wage settled Tuesday morning to bring any change to her life.
``I have to pay for school and save to prepare for getting `a real job.' Everything is quite heavy at the moment,'' she said. For some people who must make a living and support their family, things could be a lot worse, she said.
bjs@koreatimes.co.kr
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