Labor demands 26.9% increase in next year's minimum wage
Labor representatives on the Minimum Wage Commission announce their demand for next year's minimum wage in a news conference at the Sejong Government Complex in the central Korean administrative city, June 22. Yonhap
The labor circle demanded Thursday that next year's minimum wage be set at 12,210 won ($9.44) per hour, an increase of 26.9 percent from this year's 9,620 won.
The hourly minimum wage requested by the labor circle translates into a monthly wage of 2.55 million won, if calculated on the basis of 209 working hours per month.
The minimum wage demand was made public by labor representatives on the 27-member Minimum Wage Commission (MWC) in a news conference called prior to the commission's seventh plenary session in the afternoon.
The MWC, a trilateral panel composed of nine representatives each from labor, management and the general public, has to complete its review on the new minimum wage by mid-July for a formal announcement by Aug. 5 every year. The panel's deliberation is carried out in a way that narrows the gap between the initial demands submitted by the labor and management circles.
The management circle has yet to announce its minimum wage demand.
The labor circle argues that the 26.9 percent increase is inevitable in consideration of the need to stimulate domestic consumption, reflect the cost of living for workers' households and resolve wage inequality. (Yonhap)