With the power transition to Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn as the Acting President following the impeachment passage against the sitting President Park Geun-hye, the government stressed that there should not be any vacuum in state affairs and requested the labor circle for the cooperation with the government which met with the lukewarm response.

The Employment and Labor Minister Lee Ki-kweon on December 11 presided over a meeting at the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office where officials of the MOEL head office and heads of affiliated agencies attended. Minister Lee asked the officials to check the basics at the workplaces, particularly in such a difficult time like the President impeachment. He named the prevention of overdue wages, payment of minimum wages and prevention of industrial accidents among other things on the checking list.

Along with this, Minister Lee also said that it is necessary to establish a system to monitor the employment situation for the analysis of employment flow and trend and take preemptive measures.

Minister Lee did not change his labor policy approaches, with his commitment to the labor reforms. He said that the restructuring of the wage system (in relation to the extension of statutory retirement age) is legal binding. In this respect, he asked the officials to consistently help the management and labor of the companies restructure the wage system and run the competency-based personnel management.

However, the labor circle showed lukewarm responses. They demanded the abrogation of labor reform policies and the resignation of Minister Lee. Kim Joon-young, spokesperson of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions(FKTU) said, "The Ministry of Employment and Labor should reflect the wrong policies such as the imposed introduction of the performance-based wage system before devoting to the daily businesses of the Ministry. If not, the Cabinet itself will not be free from the impeachment either."

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU) held a press briefing on December 10 in Kwanghwamun Square in downtown Seoul and called for the abrogation of controversial policies of President Park's government and the resignation of Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and Employment and Labor Minister Lee Ki-kweon as the associates in the political scandal.

In the meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Yoo Il-ho who is also Minister of Strategy and Finance called a meeting with business CEOs and heads of two national trade unions centers on December 10, but both FKTU and KCTU did not attend the proposed meeting for the reason that it might be designed as a window dressing in the government crisis management.

 

reported by Kim Hak-tae
translated by Kim Sung-jin

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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