[Column] The Solidarity Income System Ignoring the Value of 'Fairness'

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] "Salaries are a matter for the market to decide. Some suggest cutting the wages of CEOs and other high-income regular employees to compensate for the wages of non-regular workers, but if their performance does not match their value, the company's shareholders would probably not stand for it."

When the Economic, Social and Labor Council and the Presidential Committee on Income-Led Growth mentioned the introduction of a 'solidarity wage' at a forum the day before, the business community's response was, in a word, that it is 'completely incompatible with market logic.'

The solidarity wage system refers to a framework that guarantees 'the same wages for workers doing the same job,' regardless of a company's profits or industry. The Economic, Social and Labor Council and the Income-Led Growth Committee argued for cutting the wages of CEOs and regular employees of large companies to give to low-income workers.

However, these claims lack the value of 'fairness,' which is most important to the younger generation. The current young generation's value system holds that if one proves their ability through fair competition and skills, they deserve appropriate treatment accordingly. The solidarity wage system ignores this perception and only emphasizes helping those in difficulty.

The ruling party experienced a by-election defeat in the first half of this year by ignoring 'fairness.' They then pledged to prioritize fairness and introduced various youth policies. However, yesterday's forum undermined those efforts and once again revealed only their ideology.

Jang Hong-geun, Chief Specialist of the Economic, Social and Labor Council, who hosted the solidarity wage policy forum, pointed out at the forum, "We must also consider whether efforts to close wage gaps might cause us to overlook more important matters." The business community says that receiving high wages, making sound management decisions, contributing to society, and the market taking responsibility?the principles of capitalism?are the 'more important things.' The Income-Led Growth Committee and labor groups should heed concerns about the 'framing' that 'after raising the minimum wage, the next step is the solidarity wage system.'

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