An umbrella labor union said Wednesday it has decided to resume dialogue with the government and management on labor market reforms after four months.
The dialogue involving a tripartite committee made up of the government, businesses and labor organizations has been stalled since April 8, when the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) walked out of negotiations in opposition to proposed changes to regulations concerning dismissing workers and company rules.
A freer employment system has been a key bone of contention among the three parties. The government has been pushing to give corporate management more leeway in dismissing workers as the country strives to revive the stagnant economy.
"We will never accept a change in the employment rule nor the creation of general dismissal guidelines," Kim Dong-man, the head of the FKTU, said.
The change in employment rule refers to mitigating the law that orders companies to obtain consent from employees when introducing new company rules that could be unfavorable to workers.
The guidelines would allow companies to more easily dismiss workers who have shown substandard work performances or laziness.
FKTU, the more conservative of the country's two major umbrella labor unions, had been leading the negotiations with the government on behalf of the labor sector. (Yonhap)