The ruling Saenuri Party on Wednesday decided to push ahead with five labor law amendments -- including measures to ease restriction on layoffs and extending the maximum employment period for temporary workers -- as its party platform, showing its resolve to see through the key elements of the labor reform drive within this year.

The tripartite committee of labor, management and the government on Sunday struck a deal on reforming the labor market. The deal was endorsed by the Federation of Korea Trade Unions -- the largest umbrella union in the country -- the next day.

Saenuri chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung said that a bipartisan agreement for the revisions must be reached by Sept. 19, as the National Assembly’s final regular session closes in December.

“This agreement was reached by the leaders of the related sectors and experts through over 120 meetings in the past year. Both the ruling and the opposition parties have a duty to respect the objectives and the content of the compromise,” Kim said.

But the five-point labor law revision encompasses thorny issues flagrantly opposed by both the opposition lawmakers and many of the labor unions, heralding a grim prospect for the reform bill.

The Korea Confederation of Trade Unions, the second-largest trade union in the country and widely perceived as more belligerent than the FKTU, vowed an “all-out war” against what it defined as “collusion” of the tripartite members.

The focal points of the dispute are revisions on the dispatched workers’ act and temporary agency workers’ act. The former expands the scope of dispatched workers by including specialized workers with annual income of over 56 million won ($48,000) and workers aged 55 or older, while allowing more sectors to employ them. The latter extends the maximum employment period for temporary workers from two years to four for workers aged 35 or older.

The Saenuri Party and the Labor Ministry say the revision will protect temporary workers from being laid off, but the opposition argues that it will only prolong the nonguaranteed period for most workers.

“(The bill for temporary workers) potentially can be a disaster. Right now we have the largest number of short-period workers among OECD members. I think increasing the number of temporary workers can be catastrophic for young people,” Rep. Eun Soo-mi of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy said in a radio interview. She added that the dispatched workers bill can deteriorate the quality of jobs, particularly for elderly workers.

Eun called the compromise a “half-baked deal” as the FKTU only represents about 5 percent of workers.

The parties have similar opinions on the other three revisions. The revision for the Employment Insurance Act will increase unemployment benefits, and changes made to the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act will expand the range of accidents occurring during commute that are covered by companies.

The Labor Standards Act will be revised to decrease working hours and clarify the standards for base payment.

But the bipartisan discord is even more pronounced in the government’s plan to establish administrative guidelines that will make it easier for companies to lay off underperforming workers and revise company policies without the union’s approval.

NPAD floor leader Lee Jong-kul said he cannot accept what his party had defined as a tool for “easy layoffs,” and said the party would agree on a legislative discussion for the layoff plans. 


By Yoon Min-sik
(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)