Resuming Talks
Unions have declared the resumption of talks with companies and the government four months after the talks came to a halt on April 8.
The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) held a central executive committee meeting at the Federation of Korea Trade Union Hall in Yeouido, Seoul, on Aug. 26, and decided to return to the talks. The central executive committee is a body that determines the main policy of the unions, with FKTU executives, industrial union leaders, and local headquarters’ chairmen attending.
The meeting was originally scheduled for Aug. 18, but was cancelled after a large number of hardliners, mostly from the metal, government-run companies, and chemical unions, staged a sit-in at the conference room in the headquarters. They demanded that the FKTU not return to the talks with the government and companies. This time, however, they did not stage a sit-in or stop the meeting; instead, they picketed in front of the conference room.
Kim Dong-man, head of the FKTU, said, “Although we have decided to return to the talks, we will never accept the creation of general dismissal guidelines nor a change in the employment rules, which raise concerns among union members. We will work actively to solve pending problems such as the improvement of the overtime work rules system and the employment of full-time workers who are involved in duties related to saving lives.”
The FKTU has been consistent in its position that it will not resume the tripartite talks unless the government excludes the general dismissal guidelines and the change in the employment rules from negotiations, which were the main reasons why the talks broke down in April. Once the general dismissal guidelines are set up, employers are allowed to lay off workers deemed negligent or performing poorly. Also, the change in employment rules refers to mitigating the law that orders companies to obtain consent from employees when introducing new company rules that could be unfavorable to workers.
To appease the unions, the government and the ruling Saenuri Party suggested a compromise earlier this month to hold off the general dismissal guidelines and the change in the employment rule for the medium and long-term agenda, after saying, “[We] will deal with them through talks and agreements,” though it includes them in the agenda. So, the FKTU can justify the return to the stalled tripartite talks.
On the FKTU's decision to return to the talks, the special committee for labor market structure improvement under the Economic and Social Development Commission will be run again.
The special committee will include Kim Dae-hwan, head of the presidential commission; three leaders of the FKTU; the three heads of the Korea Employers' Federation, the Korea Chamber Of Commerce & Industry, and the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business; three government officials of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy; and six public interest delegates.
The special committee will discuss various issues including income disparities between regular and contract workers, the calculation of average and ordinary wages, extension of fixed-term contracts, general working hours, expansion of dispatched workers in industries, and performance-based wages. However, the implementation of the wage peak system in the public sector will be discussed in the Committee on Public Sector Development.
The government and the ruling party wants to finalize legislation related to labor reform by the end of this year. This may prove difficult, because there are still significant differences in opinion across a number of issues between the government and unions.