FKTU walks away from minimum wage talks with government

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FKTU walks away from minimum wage talks with government

Published: 07 Jun. 2023, 19:23 Updated: 08 Jun. 2023, 14:09

Kim Dong-myung, president of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), speaks during a press conference on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), the country’s largest umbrella union, walked away from a communication channel with the government, in a move that escalates tensions between the laborers and the Yoon Suk Yeol administration.

The FKTU announced Wednesday that it is suspending discussions between a consultative body consisting of members from the labor union, government and employers, which was designed to determine minimum wage and other labor issues.

“The participation for the consultative commission will be suspended from now on, and when necessary, [I] will request the rights to end the membership altogether,” said Kim Dong-myung, president of the FKTU during a press briefing Wednesday.

Still, the decision is not to indefinitely withdraw from the consultative body, but to temporarily stop the discussions conducted under the body.

The major union group accused authorities of being overly forceful in clamping down on some members of the union.

Police blamed the members for staging an illegal protest and obstructing the officers engaged in public duties.

The event in question took place on May 30 when Kim Man-jae, president of the Federation of Korean Metalworkers' Trade Unions, an affiliation of the FKTU, staged a sit-in on a tall installation on the road near Posco’s steel mill in Gwangyang, South Jeolla.

He was demanding better working conditions at Posco, Korea’s largest steel maker, when police arrested him for executing an unauthorized protest.

This is the first time in seven years that the FKTU has withdrawn from the discussion body.

Under the former Park Geun-hye administration, the FKTU walked away from the consultative body after the administration relaxed rules for firing underperforming workers.

With the Wednesday decision, the ongoing negotiation on minimum wage faces further troubles.

The labor side was demanding a 25 percent increase in the minimum wage for next year.

The FKTU and the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions, the second-largest umbrella union, said they want the minimum hourly wage to be 12,000 won ($9.15), or 2.51 million won a month.

That's a 24.7 percent increase from this year. If approved, it will be the first time the minimum wage breaks 10,000 won.

They cited high inflation, reduced real income and the comparatively low wage jump in Korea compared to increases in other large economies as the reasons for the demand.

Talks on the minimum wage began after Lee Jung-sik, minister of employment and labor, requested the start of discussions on the Minimum Wage Commission on March 31. The talks have fallen through multiple times since the launch.

The commission, with 27 representatives from labor, management and the government, deliberates on the agenda for 90 days from the date of the request. The final minimum wage is annually reported by a labor minister by Aug. 5.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]