CINA

본문

S. Korean Semi official news agency Yonhap reported 5.21..

Non-regular workers bill sparks concern over strike

The passage of a non-regular workers bill by a South Korean parliamentary committee is drawing fire from local labor and management and fueling concerns over a nationwide strike feared to hurt economic growth, labor sources said Tuesday.

The proposal approved on Monday by the parliamentary committee on environment and labor is aimed at allowing companies to hire workers more freely, while setting guidelines to prevent discrimination between regular and non-regular workers in terms of pay, social security and medical insurance benefits.

If the bill becomes law next month, companies will also be obliged to treat non-regular workers they have hired for more than two years as regular workers.

It is expected to go into effect in stages starting in 2007 at companies and plants that have more 300 workers, and be applicable to all businesses from 2009 with the exception of those with less than four people.

Local umbrella labor organizations claimed the railroading of the motion conflicted with the bill's original aim of reducing the number of non-regular workers.

The 800,000-strong Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) are set to launch a nationwide strike on Tuesday, saying that lawmakers ignored the wishes of workers.

"Lawmakers of the Uri and Grand National parties should have tried to iron out two or three remaining issues of contention instead of pushing for the controversial bill," said Dan Byung-ho, a lawmaker from the minor opposition Labor Democratic Party. He said the party supported the call by the KCTU for a walkout.

The former labor activist argued that instead of reducing non-regular workers, the new law could actually cause their proliferation.

Dan also said because of loopholes, big companies like Hyundai Motor Co., which has a large number of non-regular workers, may opt to pay the fine for violating any new law rather than adhering to the rules.

This view was echoed by Lee Soo-bong, a spokesperson for the KCTU. He said the bill compromised the rights of laborers and that the union could never recognize its validity.

"We will call on all workers to oppose the new changes until lawmakers reconsider the proposal from scratch," the representative said. He said lawmakers should have limited the areas in which non-regular workers can be hired.

According to Labor Ministry statistics, the number of non-regular workers, which stood at 3.60 million in 2001, soared to 5.48 million this year. This is equivalent of about 37 percent of the country's 14.96 million workers. Labor unions claimed that the number of non-regular workers actually stood at 8.50 million.

Management, however, said lawmakers were caving in to the demands of labor and not considering the position of entrepreneurs.

"The bill gives the impression of siding with labor, and if it becomes law, companies will be compelled not to use non-regular workers," said Jeong Dae Sun, a labor expert at the Federation of Korean Industries. The executive said the extra expenses that must be paid will eventually cause companies to hold back on hiring.

Under the rules, the disparity in wages between regular and non-regular workers will be cut. At present, an average non-regular worker earns 1.16 million won a month, about 62 percent of the 1.85 million won for average regular workers. The disparity can be cut to a difference of about 20 percent.

Echoing Jeong's view, an owner of a car parts maker, pointed out that the increase in non-regular workers is the result of hard times faced by most companies that had to trim excesses following the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis. The entrepreneur, who declined to be identified, said small companies will not be able to cope with increased wage demands if they follow the new law. He predicted that many firms will do less hiring and workers who are hired will not be retained for more than two years.

"This is bad because it will require entrepreneurs to retrain new workers on a regular basis, which can hurt efficiency and quality," the businessman said.

Meanwhile, the business community and government called for the cancellation of the strike by labor unions. They claimed that the domestic economy is making a comeback from the sluggishness of the past few years and that a strike will be bad for all concerned.

In particular, government officials said that since the walkout staged by the KCTU is timed to coincide with a strike by workers of the Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL), the economic damage will be magnified.

"It is impossible to estimate the effects of the KCTU and KORAIL strikes on the economy, but they could be severe," said a official at the Ministry of Finance and Economy.

He said if changes are adopted by all parties, it can help curb the number of non-regular workers and make it possible to create at least 500,000 new jobs every year instead of the 300,000-400,000 created in the past.

The official added that if companies give equal pay and benefits to non-regular workers after a set period of time, it can contribute to economic growth because more money will circulate in the economy and generate higher gross domestic product.

http://english.yna.co.kr/Engnews/20060228/640000000020060228151105E9.html

Wow..

Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) are set to launch a nationwide strike on Tuesday

..this will change a lot... one day strike by perhaps max. 100.000 participants all across S. Korea.. usually reduced to some rallies for about 2 hours..

There are at least 8.000.000 irregular workers in S.K.!!!!