[Editorial] The lawless gigantic labor unions

Unlawful activities of the two powerful union groups are going overboard. The violations of the law by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) frequently occur at construction sites directly related to the housing security of ordinary citizens. Recent research by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport shows that tower crane operators — most of them being members of the two mega unions — received an average monthly fee of 55 million won ($42,340) per person from construction companies.

The monthly fee is some sort of “bribe” from construction companies to tower crane operators to ensure they faithfully follow their construction schedules. The top 20 percent of the crane operators took an average of 95 million won from construction companies on top of their regular pay. In some extreme cases, the operators pocketed as much as 220 million won as extra pay. As the data is based on the records of money transfer to their bank accounts, this malpractice could be just the tip of the iceberg.

The way the two umbrella unions behaved dumbfounds us. If construction companies refuse to hand out the extra fee, the unions ordered crane operators to slow down. The unions also pressured contractors to not hire non-union members, not to mention blocking them from joining the union in order to enjoy a bigger economic pie.

As a result, the damage from protracted construction and the consequential rise in construction cost went to the general public. Such aberrant act is nothing but a tyranny on ordinary people because the powerful unions arbitrarily deprived nonunionized crane operators of their rights to work even while taking hefty kickbacks through the backdoor.

The two unions rejected the government’s request for a submission of their accounting books. Only 25 percent of labor unions under the combative KCTU — and 39 percent of the FKTU — have submitted their account data. According to Rep. Kwon Seong-dong, a former interim leader of the People Power Party (PPP), the two umbrella unions received more than 150 billion won in subsidy from the central and local governments over the past five years. Moreover, they enjoyed the benefit of tax deduction for membership fees they collected from unionized members.

Their refusal to submit their accounting records translates into an admission of their guilt for shady deals. President Yoon Suk Yeol said, “If we don’t stop the malpractice of powerful unions, our young generation has no future.” The time for labor reform has come.