KCTU Joins 'Accounting Disclosure'... "To Prevent Harm to Union Members"

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) will comply with the government's policy to mandate union accounting disclosure. The FKTU explained that this is to prevent affiliated union members from suffering losses, such as being unable to receive tax deduction benefits.

Korean Federation of Trade Unions. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 23rd, the FKTU announced that it has decided to register the accounting settlement results in the union accounting disclosure system in accordance with the amended Trade Union Act and Income Tax Act Enforcement Decree.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor previously amended the Enforcement Decree of the Trade Union Act and the Enforcement Decree of the Income Tax Act to strengthen union accounting transparency. If unions do not disclose their accounts, they will not be granted union fee tax deduction benefits during year-end tax settlements. The union accounting disclosure system was launched earlier this month and is currently accepting registrations. If the two major federations, the FKTU and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), do not disclose, their affiliated organizations will also be excluded from the tax deduction benefits.

Separately from disclosing the accounts, the FKTU plans to file a constitutional complaint against this type of 'joint liability system' and will recruit petitioners until the 3rd of next month.

The FKTU will also push for legislative amendments to fundamentally block government intervention in union operations. It plans to request the National Assembly to amend laws, including deleting the clause that "when requested by administrative authorities, the settlement results and operational status must be reported."

The FKTU stated, "Complying with the government's accounting disclosure system is solely to abide by current laws and prevent harm to union members, and does not mean agreeing with the government's amended enforcement decree," adding, "We will not cease our struggle against the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's labor-destroying policies, which use union accounting transparency as a pretext to label unions as corrupt forces for their own benefit, block labor movement involvement in various government committees, and more."

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