KCTU to be Completely Legalized

The Ministry of Labor(MOL) and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU) held meetings on January 14 whose aim will be the complete legalization of the KCTU.
KCTU has 530,000 members in more than 1,200 companies nationwide. It represents 61,000 Korean Auto Workers(KAW); 52,000 Korea Telecom employees; and 81,000 Korean Federation of Metal Workers(KFMW).
The KCTU along with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions(FKTU) is one part of the tripartite panel, the others being government and management, working to limit the impact of the ongoing economic reforms. The panel was formed one year ago and despite having some initial successes has, of late, been mired in debilitating disputes. One serious contention is that the panel's decisions have very little clout in government or chaebol policy since it has no legal status. The KCTU has threatened as well as boycotted proceedings over, what it views, the increasing amount of layoffs. Another problem is that numerous members and heads of the KCTU are under indictment or have been arrested and many of its affiliate unions are not legally recognized.
Accordingly, if the KCTU is thoroughly legalized, an era in which Korean companies will be subject to multi-labor unions and their employees will be under a vast umbrella union will begin for the first time in Korea.
An agreement is expected on the basis that the MOL already approved the Union for Teachers, also previously an illegal institution, which is a substructure of the KCTU. The KCTU plans to make its illegal directors legally sanctioned.
A source at the KCTU said, 'The KCTU will apply for a foundation and charter for various unions very soon.'