Democratic Labor Union's New Leadership Declares Struggle Alongside Election for "General Strike in November Next Year"

Yang Kyung-soo, head of the Gyeonggi regional headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), was elected as the next chairman of the KCTU. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] Yang Kyung-soo (44), head of the Gyeonggi Regional Headquarters of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), who emphasized struggle, was elected as the next chairman of the nationwide KCTU. With Yang becoming the new leader of the KCTU, it is expected that the hardline struggle stance will become even more solidified.

In the runoff election for the 10th executive committee of the KCTU, candidate number 3, Yang Kyung-soo, was elected. According to the vote count results released by the KCTU, Yang's team received 287,413 votes (55.7%) out of a total of 531,158 votes, defeating candidate number 1 Kim Sang-gu's team, which received 228,786 votes (44.3%). Yoon Taek-geun and Jeon Jong-deok were elected as senior vice chairman and secretary general, respectively. They will lead the KCTU for three years starting January next year.

In his victory speech, Yang said, "For the first time in history, the number one labor union will organize a prepared general strike," and added, "We will organize the 'Jeon Tae-il General Strike' in November next year, which will be recorded as a chapter in history." He warned, "The government and capital will face a 'strange era.' All past practices, systems, and memories should be forgotten."

During the election period debates, Yang showed a stance prioritizing struggle, unlike candidate Kim Sang-gu, who pledged social dialogue and negotiations and also predicted a general strike in November next year. Yang Kyung-soo previously served as the head of the irregular workers’ branch of the Kia Motors Hwaseong branch of the Metal Workers' Union. He is the first irregular worker to become a chairman among the KCTU’s past leaders. In 2015, he led a 363-day high-altitude protest demanding the conversion of illegal dispatch workers to regular workers, achieving the regularization of about 1,000 workers. The new KCTU leadership is expected to strongly drive issues related to irregular workers, including the conversion of irregular workers in the public sector to regular positions.

Yang’s election pledges include applying the Labor Standards Act to workplaces with fewer than five employees, recognizing special employment, indirect employment, and freelancers as workers under the Labor Union Act, and declaring a one-million-strong general strike on November 3 next year to achieve the 'Jeon Tae-il 3 Laws,' including the Serious Accident Corporate Punishment Act. Yang pledged to finalize this schedule at the first regular delegate meeting of his term and prepare for the strike over the course of one year.

Experts point out that with the formation of a new hardline leadership, labor-government relations are inevitably expected to become strained. In July, the KCTU refused to agree to the tripartite dialogue for overcoming COVID-19. Former KCTU chairman Kim Myung-hwan, who led the tripartite agreement, resigned taking responsibility for this.

Under the emergency committee system, the KCTU is escalating its struggle against the government in response to the government and ruling party pushing through amendments to the Labor Union Act that partially reflect management’s demands, such as extending the validity period of collective agreements. In particular, the enactment of the Serious Accident Corporate Punishment Act, aimed at punishing companies responsible for worker deaths and serious accidents, is a key pledge of Yang. If legislation fails in the National Assembly, it could become a major point of conflict between labor and government.

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