KCTU: "Tripartite Agreement Is Not a Social Pact... Government Should Abandon It"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) argued that the tripartite agreement to overcome the COVID-19 crisis cannot be considered a social consensus and insisted that the government should abandon it.

On the 28th, the KCTU released a statement saying, "The 'final tripartite agreement,' which prioritizes workers' concessions and enduring suffering, is no longer a social consensus," and added, "The Moon Jae-in administration should now abandon the final tripartite agreement and respond to the demands of the KCTU."

The Economic, Social and Labor Council (ESLC), a social dialogue body under the direct control of the president, signed the tripartite agreement to overcome the COVID-19 crisis on the same day. The agreement contains almost the same content as the tripartite agreement (final draft) prepared at the tripartite representatives' meeting in which the KCTU participated.

The KCTU rejected the ratification of the tripartite agreement at an extraordinary delegate meeting on the 23rd. Following this, the leadership, including Chairman Kim Myung-hwan who participated in the tripartite representatives' meeting, resigned, and the KCTU entered an emergency committee system centered on hardliners.

The KCTU urged, "The tripartite agreement did not include provisions to guarantee the employment and survival rights of workers facing the COVID-19 crisis," and emphasized, "Now is the time for the government to respond to the urgent demands of the KCTU for 'ban on layoffs' and 'guarantee of total employment.'"

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.