Moderate Labor Leader
Kim Joo-young, head of the Federation of Korean Public Industry Trade Unions, was elected on January 24 as the 26th leader of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) to lead the organization for three years down the road. 2,882 out of 3,125 voters participated in the voting, including 1,735 who voted for him.
Immediately after his election, he said that the FKTU can return to the Korea Tripartite Commission if fair negotiations are ensured by the next administration. The FKTU has refused to have talks with the other two sides of the commission, that is, employers and the government, since January last year.
The new head of the FKTU is regarded as being moderate in comparison to the other candidate Kim Man-je, head of the Federation of Korean Metal Workers’ Trade Unions who attempted to burn himself in 2015 in opposition to the Korea Tripartite Commission.
Kim Joo-young, who led the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) labor union in the past, has fought to block the privatization of the electric power industry, strived to organize outsourced workers and tried to turn temporary workers into permanent workers. In addition, he resisted forced layoff and restructuring during the Lee Myung-bak administration and performance-based pay in the public sector during the Park Geun-hye administration.