"Rejection of Differential Minimum Wage Application, Devastating and Heartbreaking... Is It a Call to Give Up Employment?"

Minimum Wage Commission Rejects Industry-Specific Differentiation
Sogongyeon Criticizes Minimum Wage Commission Decision
"Full Effort to Defend Minimum Wage Freeze"

At the 'Resolution Rally Urging the Freeze of the Minimum Wage' held in front of the National Assembly building in Yeouido, Seoul on the 21st, participants are breaking down the barrier to raising the minimum wage.
[Photo by Federation of Small and Medium Business]

The small business sector raised its voice on the 22nd, expressing that it was "devastated and heartbroken" over the Minimum Wage Commission's (MWC) rejection of the sector-specific minimum wage application, asking, "Are micro small business owners being told to give up employment?"

The Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise Associations issued a statement that day, strongly condemning "the MWC's rejection of the sector-specific minimum wage application at the 7th plenary session."

The Federation lamented, "Yesterday, the desperate cries and earnest appeals of 7 million small business owners nationwide, who filled the road in front of the National Assembly in pouring rain, were once again ignored," adding, "We cannot contain our devastation, sorrow, and indignation."

Although the Minimum Wage Act provides a legal basis for applying differentiated minimum wages according to the type of business, the MWC has not applied this provision in practice for the past 35 years.

User representative Ryu Ki-jung, Executive Director of the Korea Employers Federation (left), and worker representative Ryu Ki-seop, Secretary General of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, are seated in the Minimum Wage Commission meeting room at the Government Complex Sejong.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

This year, the employer representatives within the MWC (business sector) proposed a concession to initially implement differentiated wages limited to lodging and food service, convenience stores, and taxi transportation industries, but failed to persuade the public interest and labor representatives, resulting in the rejection of the differentiated application agenda.

The Federation criticized the MWC, asking, "Is it a reasonable decision to pay the same minimum wage across all industries? Is our country truly a nation governed by the rule of law? Are micro small business owners being told to give up employment or close their shops?"

Finally, they stated, "We strongly protest the MWC's decision that betrays the call of the times," and declared, "We will do our utmost to defend the last bastion directly linked to the survival rights of small business owners?the freeze on the minimum wage."

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