KCTU tells labor ministry it opposes special-zone labor exemptions; Kim Young-hoon: “Will proceed based on social-dialogue agreement”

[Financial News] The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) conveyed its opposition and concerns to the Ministry of Employment and Labor regarding the government and ruling party’s unilateral handling of the bill, including the labor-exemption provisions in the Super-Regional Special Zone Act. In response, Minister Kim Young-hoon reaffirmed that the bill would be pursued on the basis of consensus reached through social dialogue.
 According to KCTU on the 4th, its acting chair Lee Jae-jin met Minister Kim at the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s Seoul Southern District Office on the 3rd to discuss these issues.
 At the meeting, Acting Chair Lee took issue with the ruling party having introduced the Super-Regional Special Zone Act first and called on it to “state that it would not process the bill unilaterally.”
Currently, the ruling party has introduced two bills in the National Assembly, one including labor exemptions and the other excluding them. Acting Chair Lee made his opposition to both bills clear, calling them “anti-labor bills” and saying they “pose problems across various areas, including climate and the environment, agriculture, education, and health care.”
 In response, Minister Kim reaffirmed that the bill would be pursued based on the outcomes discussed and agreed upon through social dialogue. He also urged KCTU to cooperate actively, saying, “For super-regional special zones to succeed, reasonable measures must be developed through social dialogue to create quality jobs for young people and achieve locally led growth, among other things.”
 Acting Chair Lee also called for quality jobs centered on young people in regular employment, rather than non-regular employment, and shorter working hours to be implemented across workplaces as a whole, not only in special zones. Regarding bargaining with principal contractors, he called for the repeal of the Enforcement Decree of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act and urged the government to play a role in enabling such bargaining.

[email protected] Kim Jun-hyeok Reporter