Democratic Labor Union Chairman "Forming Workers' Agenda... Struggle for Yoon Administration's Resignation"

Yang Kyung-soo, chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), declared that he will launch a struggle to oust the Yoon Seok-yeol administration after the 22nd National Assembly election (general election) on April 10.

Yang Kyung-soo, Chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, is speaking at the 2024 KCTU New Year Press Conference held at the KCTU in Seoul on the morning of the 23rd. [Image source=Yonhap News]

At a New Year's press conference held at the KCTU education center in Jung-gu, Seoul, Chairman Yang said, "Despite the serious inequality and overlapping multiple crises, the Yoon Seok-yeol administration and the political circles are only obsessed with infighting, leaving people’s livelihoods neglected."

He continued, "Public opinion for judging the administration continues to be high, and this will be expressed through the general election," adding, "We will expose the true face of the Yoon Seok-yeol administration and create widespread calls for its resignation to bring down the government."

He also said, "The path to ousting the administration is to fight with the agenda of wages, labor rights, and strengthening social publicness, and to create social consensus," and added, "After the general election, we will form a consensus through various projects and struggles."

Regarding the general election, the KCTU plans to announce its demands next month and hold a "Resolution Rally for Judging the Yoon Seok-yeol Administration and Winning the General Election" on the 24th of the same month. After the election, events such as the "International Workers' Day Rally" on May 1, the "National Workers' Rally for Wage Increase for All Workers" on June 22, and the "Citizens' Rally for Strengthening Social Publicness" on September 28 are scheduled. However, there was no large-scale general strike scheduled in this year's announced business plan.

Chairman Yang explained, "This clearly expresses a change in attitude and direction," adding, "It does not mean giving up the struggle or not fighting, but rather broadly expanding activities in the areas of labor rights and publicness in different ways."

Chairman Yang also expressed his stance on social dialogue, undocumented migrant workers, and employment of the elderly.

When asked if he intended to participate in the Economic, Social and Labor Council (ESLC), he replied, "For genuine social dialogue to happen, building trust between labor and management must come first." He added, "Since this administration came into power, the KCTU has been excluded from numerous government committees, and there are talks this year about changing the composition of the Minimum Wage Commission. Entering (the ESLC) under these conditions would be falling into a trap set by the government and employers."

Regarding the employment of the elderly, he said, "The fundamental direction should be to reduce the working period," but added, "Given longer life expectancy, extending the working period to some extent is inevitable in reality."

On the issue of the spread of hatred against migrant workers, he stated, "Our position is that all workers, regardless of nationality, should work under equal conditions," and added, "I believe that hateful remarks and behaviors against migrant workers are wrong."

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