By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The governing Grand National Party (GNP) will pass bills to extend the current two-year employment ceiling for temporary workers to three years at the National Assembly plenary session early next week, its chairman said Thursday.
Chairman Park Hee-tae also stood firm on the passage of bills to reshape the media industry submitted by his party lawmakers, saying its lawmakers will vote on the measures in mid-July.
Main opposition Democratic Party (DP) floor leader Lee Kang-rae said his party would cooperate in passing a protective measure for seasonal workers only when a compromise is made by the bipartisan taskforce.
But Lee opposed the plan to vote on the media-related bills, saying his party would block voting.
Park said massive layoffs were unavoidable next month when the current two-year employment ceiling for temporary workers remains intact, emphasizing the need for an immediate implementation of protective measures.
Labor experts say about 1 million temporary workers will either be hired on permanent contracts or be forced to leave their current workplace over the next year under the current law.
``If the taskforce team consisting of floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties, along with representatives from the nation's two largest labor unions, reaches agreement on a set of protective measures, the GNP will follow it,'' Park said.
If they fail to clinch a deal, the GNP chairman sent a clear signal that his party would go ahead with the vote on the measure to extend the employment ceiling.
The five-member taskforce committee aimed at saving the vulnerable workers had held five rounds of meetings through Thursday, but failed to reach agreement.
Members of the team discussed ways of providing employers with subsidies in an effort to make it easier for them to hire permanent workers, but did not narrow their differences.
They are scheduled to meet again today to discuss the matter.
Seasonal workers are neither entitled to receiving extra income such as allowances and bonus, nor social benefits including medicare and healthcare.
Therefore, business owners prefer hiring temporary workers than permanent employees for monetary reasons.
DP lawmakers opposed extending the legal employment period of contracts and called for setting aside subsidies to help employers when they re-hire temporary workers on permanent contracts.
The GNP said the DP plan is shortsighted because financial resources that the government can offer are limited and employers would not hire permanent workers if there is no financial support.
The governing party added that employers make the decision and the role of government in this matter is very limited.