Moon meets two union chiefs

By Lee Min-hyung

President Moon Jae-in

President Moon Jae-in met with the leaders of the nation's two umbrella unions, Friday, to pave the way for the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions's (KCTU) possible participation in government-led talks on resolving labor issues.

This was the first time since July last year that Moon had a meeting with KCTU Chairman Kim Myeong-hwan and Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) chief Kim Ju-young.

Moon arranged the meeting to seek participation of the KCTU, which is bigger than the FKTU, in three-way consultations with the government and management, according to presidential aides.

The KCTU has refused to join a government-led consultative body, the Economic, Social and Labor Council, citing the Moon administration's “biased” labor policy.

However, KCTU chief Kim recently hinted at possibly joining the council, despite hardliners being still negative about this. The union plans to hold a general meeting Jan. 28 to decide on whether to participate in the council.

The KCTU said it plans to deliver its stance on pending social issues, such as the minimum wage, and ask Moon to meet its demands.

Moon is seeking to win support from the labor groups for the smooth handling of his economic agenda through dialogue.

“We will address our views on social issues in a direct manner during the meeting with the President,” Kim said before the meeting.

President Moon has in recent months urged unions to engage more actively in social dialogue.

In a New Year press conference, he said the nation's labor groups need to be “more open-minded” in dialogue for social engagement.

“The government's policy drive of respecting labor forces remains unwavering, and dialogue should continue even if there are different viewpoints,” President Moon said during his previous meeting with the two labor union leaders in July.