Metal Workers Union Urges Government to Resume Talks
By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
The Korean Metal Workers Union (KMWU) said Thursday that it is willing to discuss a wages freeze as a condition of the government coming to the negotiation table.
It said it is also considering the possibility of setting comprehensive measures to share the ``burden'' with employers, but stressed the concessions will only take shape when the government and management move to create a three-way negotiation table for talks over pending labor issues.
The union is the largest industrial labor unit controlled by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. Workers at four major carmakers here ― Hyundai, Kia, GM Daewoo and Ssangyong ― belong to the union.
``Salary freezing or reduction is negotiable once the government sites down to talk with us,'' KMWU chairman Chung Gap-deuk said. ``We are ready to talk. Ironically, however, the government is avoiding it.''
This is the first proposal initiated by the labor union in which it expressed its intention to share the financial burden through voluntary work sharing and a salary freeze or reduction.
The union of metal workers has discussed the introduction of a work sharing program that involves workers at major companies and their subcontractors, and sought peaceful solutions on non-permanent worker issues, Chung said.
He called on the government to increase national subsidies for low income earners and build special funds to finance cash-strapped small and mid-size firms.
``The basic living standard of many workers at small companies is already at risk due to sudden salary cuts,'' he said. ``We ask big companies with relatively sufficient funds to take more steps to be supportive of their subcontractors.''