Labor reform accord faces bumpy road
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Federation of Korea Trade Unions President Kim Dong-man leaves a meeting room at the union's headquarters in Seoul, Monday, after leaders of the umbrella union agreed to approve a trilateral deal on labor reform. / Yonhap
FKTU leaders vote for tripartite agreement
By Chung Ah-young
The last-minute agreement among labor, management and government representatives to reform the labor market is drawing a fierce backlash from union members opposed to the compromise deal.
Despite Sunday’s in-principle agreement, the government and ruling party’s move to legislate the labor reform bill faces an uphill battle, with the main opposition party also resisting the accord.
The Tripartite Commission consisting of representatives from the Federation of Korea Trade Unions (FKTU), the Korea Employers’ Federation and the Ministry of Employment and Labor reached the agreement on key issues including easing layoffs and changing employment rules.
Leaders of the FKTU approved the accord at a meeting Monday. But the approval did not come easily — the meeting was briefly halted as Kim Man-jae, head of the metal workers’ union affiliated to the FKTU, attempted to set fire to himself to protest the tripartite deal. Another participant of the meeting put out the fire with an extinguisher.
The industrial unions such as metal, chemical and public workers have strongly protested the agreement, urging the leaders of the umbrella union to step down.
Despite their protests, 30 out of 48 leaders and executive officials of the FKTU approved the deal after Kim Dong-man, its president, persuaded them to support the plan.
Some also say that the agreement is only an “ambiguous declaration” without detailed plans about how to carry it out.
The three parties agreed to set up criteria and procedures for layoffs and changes of employment rules on condition of “full consultation” with the union.
But critics say the “consultation” can prevent the government from setting up necessary guidelines if the labor side opposes them.
“It is only a stopgap to not halt the talks between the government and the labor,” Myongji University professor Cho Dong-gun said.
While the ruling Saenuri Party plans to submit a labor reform bill to the National Assembly, Wednesday, based on the agreement, it is not clear whether it will be passed, because the opposition parties claim the deal came amid pressure from the government, which vowed to push ahead with its own plan if a compromise was not worked out.
KCTU calls accord ‘collusion’
The National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee, which will first review the bill, has more members of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) than those of the ruling party.
“It’s extremely regretful that measures to protect temporary workers and reduce their work hours were left on the back burner,” NPAD spokesman Kim Young-rok said.
Rep. Lee In-young of the NPAD said that as labor market reform is closely related to jobs for young people, it requires broader consensus beyond the Tripartite Commission.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), another umbrella union which did not join in the negotiations, denounced the agreement as “collusion.”
“We will protest against the agreement because this is a merely collusion among the tripartite representatives for worsening the current law to allow easier layoffs, lower wages and more non-regular workers,” the KCTU said.
“We will wage protests and go on a general strike to block the bill from being passed,” it said.
On Sunday, the commission agreed to consult with experts to improve the labor contract system.
Concerning easing the changes of the employment rules, the three parties agreed to make conditions and procedures for such changes clear, which is expected to give a boost to expanding the government-backed peak wage system in the private sector.
Under the agreement, the government will not pursue reform measures unilaterally but through consultation with labor and management representatives.