Unions breaks up with leftist party

By Na Jeong-ju

The country’s largest umbrella labor union withdrew support for the minor United Progressive Party (UPP) Tuesday, saying the party has failed to meet its expectations for reform.

The move came amid a deepening power struggle inside the left-leaning party. Last month, the UPP failed to pass a motion expelling Reps. Lee Seok-ki and Kim Jae-yeon, who were accused of unfairly winning proportional representative seats in the April 11 parliamentary elections. Lee, known as the leader of the so-called pro-North Korea faction within the UPP, sparked a nationwide uproar when he said South Korea does not have an official national anthem.

The party’s reformist members, led by Chairman Kang Ki-kab, hinted earlier that they may leave the UPP and create their own party, if it failed to deal with the controversial pro-North Korea faction and its alleged election rigging.

The Korea Confederation of Trade Unions’ (KCTU) decision to break up with the UPP suggests that there could be an exodus of reformist members from the party in the near future. The KCTU is called the “single largest shareholder” of the UPP because of the UPP’s 75,000 members with voting rights, 46 percent or nearly 35,000 belong to the umbrella union.

The KCTU fell short of expressing support for Kang’s move to create a new party, but said it will collaborate with reformist members for the future of progressives.

Jung Ho-hee, a spokesperson for the union, said the withdrawal of support does not automatically translate into the KCTU supporting the creation of another progressive party.

The union official said there has been no contact by UPP reformists asking for the union’s aid.

An increasing number of members have left the UPP, and public support for the party has weakened since the motion to expel Reps. Lee and Kim was rejected.

In May, the labor union issued a statement calling on the UPP to take all necessary steps to reform and deal with the election fraud issue. At the time, the trade union called for the resignation of proportional candidates who were elected, the party’s leadership and secretariat en-masse.

The KCTU, meanwhile, said its decision to break up with the UPP was reached with 27 of the 39 representatives voting in support of the move during a closed-door central executive committee meeting.

“The decision to withdraw support was based on an independent assessment of the situation by the union,” the KCTU said in a press release.

In addition to withdrawing support, the union organization’s central committee reaffirmed its plan to conduct a nationwide strike this month and stage a protest by its members in Seoul on Aug. 31.

The KCTU demanded an end to hiring irregular workers with weak job protection, a halt to the practice of companies letting go of employees when they are in trouble and a revamping of the country’s union laws.