Labor groups pledge all-out fight

Two labor umbrella groups yesterday pledged an all-out fight against the government as the negotiations over a controversial law failed to hammer out an agreement.

Six representatives from labor, management and the government had held a series of talks on the revision of the trade union and arbitration law since Oct. 29.

The revised law, which was legislated at the National Assembly in 1997, calls for permitting multiple unions at a worksite and limiting wages for employees working as a full-time union official.

"The government proposed to discuss on condition of the law being implemented next year. But labor groups demanded to remove the regulation on full-time unionists, saying the issue should be handled by individual workplaces," said Sohn Young-jung, a member of the standing committee of the Economic and Social Development Commission, at a press conference right after the talks.



"Amid their heated debate, the employers` group claimed that the wage payments to full-time union officials should be abolished. We couldn`t narrow differences, ending the talks without agreement," he said.

Unless the stakeholder groups agree to a compromise bill and it is approved at the National Assembly, the law is scheduled to take effect starting on Jan. 1 as originally planned.

"The ministry will prepare the measures for the soft landing of the two controversial issues. I ask both employers and workers not to demand another moratorium on the implementation of the law but to propose their own ideas for its proper establishment," said Labor Minister Yim Tae-hee, reaffirming the government`s intent to go ahead with the law.

After the breakdown of the six-party talks, the nation`s major umbrella trade unions vowed to begin their antigovernment campaign, signaling fierce labor conflicts in the coming weeks.

"The government and employers should be responsible for the rupture of the talks," said Yim Sung-kyu, head of the hardline Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.

"If the government, which has the final say, shows no change in its attitude, there`s no possibility for the issue to be solved," he said, threatening to stage an indefinite struggle against the law.

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions with the largest membership of 80,000 workers also held a press conference yesterday, vowing to fight together with the KCTU.

"We had suggested the six-party talks and made last-ditch efforts not to worsen the labor-government relationship. It is unfortunate that the talks ended without any achievements," said an official of the FKTU.

"From today, we will go on a nationwide general strike. It will be the biggest strike of the two labor groups in 12 years."

The FKTU set the deadline for agreement with the government and the ruling Grand National Party on Nov. 30. Unless specific solutions are proposed, the group said, it will break its policy solidarity with the GNP and stage a joint strike with the KCTU next month.

(jylee@heraldm.com)



By Lee Ji-yoon