By Kim Se-jeong
The nation’s largest labor umbrella union is expected to withdraw from the labor, management and government agreement on labor reforms.
Officials from the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), one of the negotiators of the tripartite deal, said it plans to do this to protest the government-led guidelines about layoffs and changes in employment rules.
The FKTU, a relatively dovish labor group, is expected join another umbrella union, the militant Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).
The move will deal another serious blow to the Park Geun-hye administration, which has long called for the passage of a pending labor reform bill at the National Assembly as a cure-all for the nation’s many problems.
FKTU leaders will meet this week to discuss whether to cancel the agreement. FKTU chief Kim Dong-man, who pushed the deal through despite internal opposition in September, is expected to declare an end to the deal.
“The government and management have made no efforts to deliver on their promises made during the negotiations,” Kim said in his New Year address to FKTU members, Dec. 31.
“The government crossed the Rubicon by unilaterally announcing its guidelines on layoffs and employment rule changes.”
On Dec. 30, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced a draft of guidelines to allow companies to fire underperforming workers and to arbitrarily change the rules of employment.
Kim said the government breached the September deal, according to which the three parties agreed to have further talks to set up rules about the issues and the government would not impose its own plans unilaterally until then.
The FKTU also indicated it would enter a protest alliance with the KCTU.
The KCTU -- the nation’s second-largest umbrella union, walked out of the negotiations earlier, and has led major anti-government protests since the agreement was made.
The two unions have more than 1.4 million members combined.
The government has claimed the draft was only a proposal and that it would come up with a final version through talks with labor, urging the union to participate.
Labor market reform has been President Park’s major focus since her inauguration. She renewed her push in her New Year address, saying. “In the new year, the government will complete labor reform, along with other major reforms, to lay the groundwork for an economically strong Korea for three decades to come.”
Based on the in-principal deal, the ruling Saenuri Party submitted a labor reform bill to the National Assembly days after the agreement.
The bill has been stalled for months because the opposition parties have refused to vote for it.
Lawmakers are reluctant to pass the bill ahead of the general election in April, as they do not want to lose workers’ votes.