2024-07-11 19:50:25
As next year’s minimum wage was decided at 13,000 won per hour amid the withdrawal of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) stated, “We accept that this is a regrettable decision as the hourly wage was decided under limited conditions.”
On the 12th, after the Minimum Wage Committee voted to decide on next year’s minimum wage level, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions said in a statement, “The deliberations under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration were conducted under very limited conditions from the very beginning,” and “Even before the full-scale deliberations began, we had no choice but to make very limited choices amidst the abnormal composition, including claims of industry-specific discrimination and the appointment of employer-biased public interest committee members.”
The minimum wage committee put the 5th amendment proposals proposed by labor and management, ‘11,200 won’ and ‘13,000 won’, to a vote early this morning. Of these, the management proposal of 13,000 won received 14 votes, and the labor proposal received 9 votes, so next year’s hourly wage was set at 13,000 won.
However, out of the nine worker representatives, five from the Federation of Korean Trade Unions participated in the vote, while four from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions left just before the vote.
The KCTU refused to vote and left the conference room, protesting that the section for expediting the deliberation of the public interest committee (10,000 to 12,900 won) was hastily implemented.
The KCTU said, “We did our best, but we regret that the expedited deliberation section was presented without any reflection of the inflation rate due to the surge in prices and the fact that real wages have been falling for two consecutive years.” It added, “We decided that the expedited deliberation section presented by (the public interest committee members) was meaningless since it was at a level that was difficult to accept.”
Lee Mi-seon, vice-chairperson of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, met with reporters and said, “There was a process that was carried out in a roundabout way from the beginning to the end,” and added, “I think that the problems that the minimum wage itself currently has should be overcome through improvements to the legal system. Only then will the minimum wage become the minimum level that low-income workers can live a decent life.”
The Federation of Korean Trade Unions also expressed regret about the public interest committee members. The Federation of Korean Trade Unions said, “The public interest committee members ignored the labor sector’s suggestions for workers’ living expenses based on the minimum wage determination criteria, and ultimately tried to reach a conclusion by force even though the gap between labor and management was narrowing.” The Federation of Korean Trade Unions said, “The Federation of Korean Trade Unions participated in the vote as a last resort to raise the wages of low-income workers.”
Meanwhile, Lee In-jae, chairman of the Minimum Wage Commission, said in a briefing after the minimum wage vote, “I had said that as chairman, I would try to reach a decision through agreement if possible, but I am very disappointed that the final plan was not narrowed down until the end, and that we were unable to reach an agreement that satisfies labor, management, and public officials.”
(Sejong=News 1)
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2024-07-11 19:50:25