KCTU Announces Large-Scale Struggle in November... "Yoon Government Ignores Calls for Dialogue"

Yang Kyung-soo Chairman "Labor Policy Missing in Yoon Administration"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has announced a large-scale struggle in November, criticizing the Yoon Seok-yeol administration for not engaging in dialogue with the labor sector.

On the 12th, the KCTU held a press briefing at the KCTU conference room in Jung-gu, Seoul. On this day, the KCTU announced the resolutions for the second half of the year’s struggle, which were decided at the Central Committee meeting on the 7th.

The KCTU evaluated that labor policies have disappeared under the Yoon administration. Yang Kyung-soo, chairman of the KCTU, said, "The Yoon administration has a problem of perceiving labor as a subordinate concept to management in labor-management relations," adding, "At a time when workers are facing difficulties such as soaring prices, interest rate hikes, and hardships in the working-class economy domestically, the Yoon administration is only presenting policies without a compass and focusing solely on the interests of large corporations."

Chairman Yang diagnosed that "a change in direction of the Yoon administration’s labor policy is urgent," explaining, "The introduction of an unrealistic job-based wage system and the intention to produce more irregular workers is worrisome." When asked whether they had met and held talks with the Yoon administration, he added, "It can be said that there is currently no channel to discuss labor issues with the Yoon administration," and "We have been continuously demanding a place to discuss specific agendas, but the presidential office has nothing substantial to say."

The KCTU is expected to intensify its struggle in the second half of this year as well. The KCTU plans to hold a nationwide simultaneous resolution rally on September 24, followed by issue-specific struggles in mid to late October, and a general mobilization of 100,000 union members on November 12. The KCTU explained that they aim to lead the largest-scale mobilization ever for the 100,000-member rally. In December, they plan to carry out a general strike and all-out struggle to block labor reforms and achieve reform legislation. Chairman Yang said, "Since the National Workers’ Rally on the 2nd, we have received many messages of support for the KCTU," adding, "We intend to carry out the second half of the year’s struggle responsibly."

The plan is to continue the struggle focusing on livelihood issues such as prices. The KCTU’s struggle agenda includes ▲urgent livelihood measures amid economic crises such as soaring prices ▲tax increases on conglomerates and the wealthy ▲state responsibility for social publicness that protects the lives of the working class ▲halt to labor reforms ▲guarantee of non-discriminatory labor rights ▲guarantee of quality jobs. Lee Jung-hee, director of the KCTU Policy Office, said, "There are many areas where fiscal input is needed, but the government is instead reducing taxes that conglomerates should pay, such as corporate tax cuts," adding, "It is important for the government to secure fiscal capacity."

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