Minimum Wage '10,620 Won vs 9,785 Won'... No Conclusion Reached, Discussion Continues Next Week

On the afternoon of the 13th, ahead of the decision on next year's minimum wage level, a notice informing of the 2023 minimum wage of 9,620 won is placed at the Seobu Employment Welfare Plus Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The gap between labor and management over next year's minimum wage has narrowed to the 800-won range, but no final decision has been made. It was initially expected that the minimum wage level would be decided by the night before or early morning of the day, but as labor-management agreement was delayed, final discussions will continue on the 18th.

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 14th, labor and management presented their 6th revised proposals for next year's minimum wage at the 13th plenary meeting of the Minimum Wage Commission held at the Government Complex Sejong the previous day, proposing 10,620 won and 9,785 won respectively.

Compared to this year's minimum wage (9,620 won), the labor side proposed a 10.4% increase, while the management side proposed a 1.7% increase.

Initially, the labor side demanded 12,210 won as next year's minimum wage, but during negotiations, they revised their proposals six times to 12,130 won, 12,000 won, 11,540 won, 11,140 won, 11,040 won, and finally 10,620 won.

Meanwhile, the management side initially proposed freezing the wage at 9,620 won but submitted revised proposals of 9,650 won, 9,700 won, 9,720 won, 9,740 won, 9,755 won, and 9,785 won.

As a result, the gap between labor and management narrowed from 2,590 won to the current 835 won.

However, there is still a significant difference in positions for labor and management to reach an agreement. Ryu Gi-seop, Secretary General of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and a worker representative, mentioned Seoul City's increase in public transportation fares by 150 won for the subway and 300 won for buses in the second half of the year, stating, "Minimum wage workers are now in a groggy state with no strength left to endure, hit by the 'knockout punch' of soaring inflation and declining real wages."

Park Hee-eun, Vice Chairperson of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, also said, "The difficulties of small business owners and self-employed persons should not be passed on to low-wage workers," adding, "A significant increase in the minimum wage is the minimum line for the survival of those in hardship."

On the other hand, Ryu Ki-jung, Executive Director of the Korea Employers Federation and a management representative, pointed out, "Our country's minimum wage is already at a very high level," adding, "Since it is impossible to apply differentiated minimum wages by industry, decisions should be made focusing on business owners who find it difficult to cope with the current minimum wage level."

Initially, next year's minimum wage was expected to be decided by a vote on the public interest members' mediation proposal either the previous night or early morning of the day, but the meeting was postponed. Considering that the deadline for announcing the minimum wage under the Minimum Wage Act is August 5, the deliberation on next year's minimum wage must be completed by mid-month at the latest.

The public interest members, who play a mediating role in the labor-management confrontation, stated that they will do their best to help labor and management reach an agreement. Park Jun-sik, Chairperson of the Minimum Wage Commission, said, "We will do our utmost to narrow differences and reach an agreement on next year's minimum wage," adding, "As chairperson, I will patiently wait for the outcome."

The 14th plenary meeting will be held on the 18th. If labor and management fail to reach an agreement on that day as well, it is highly likely that a mediation proposal within the deliberation promotion range suggested by the public interest members will be found and put to a vote. Then, a conclusion may be reached late on the 18th or early morning of the 19th.

If the minimum wage proposal is approved on the 18th, the deliberation period will be 109 days, breaking the record for the longest minimum wage deliberation period. The previous record was 108 days in 2016.

Whether the minimum wage will surpass the '10,000 won' mark for the first time in history is also a point of interest. If the increase rate is 3.95% (380 won) or more, it will exceed 10,000 won. The amounts and increase rates decided over the past five years are 8,350 won (10.9%) in 2019, 8,590 won (2.9%) in 2020, 8,720 won (1.5%) in 2021, 9,160 won (5.1%) in 2022, and 9,620 won (5.0%) in 2023.

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