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KCTU and FKTU press release upon Postponement of the ILO-Asian Regional Meeting
1. The current circumstances clearly preclude a normal ILO-ARM in Korea:
Under the present labor-government relations characterized by continued exclusion and repression of labor, it is crystal clear that the ILO-Asian Regional Meeting (ILO-ARM) cannot take place normally in Korea. Two delegations—composed of KCTU General Secretary LEE, Seok-haeng, FKTU Secretary JEONG, Gwangho and two others—traveled to the ILO Geneva headquarters, the ICFTU Brussels headquarters, the Bangkok ILO Asia Office, and the ICFTU-APRO office in Singapore from August 22 – 23 to explain the two confederations’ position, seek cooperation and deepen the understanding of why this is happening.
During this process, the two confederations also synthesized diverse perspectives from the broader international labor community, and confirmed the international labor community’s position that it would be difficult to go forward with the ILO-ARM in Korea unless the Korean government embarks upon a sincere program and series of efforts to restore labor-government relations and strengthen international labor standards.
In particular, both ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder and ICFTU-APRO General Secretary Noriyuki Suzuki separately met with KCTU and FKTU delegations respectively, and while indicating accord with the two national centers’ position on the key issues, they also directly expressed their intention to proactively support and respect the views of the Korean unions with regard to the ILO-ARM. At the same time, the person concerned to ILO workers group also told the delegation of its plans to demand that the Korean government speedily rehabilitate labor-government relations.
2. Non-participation is not shameful; the retrogressive labor policy that falls below international standards is what is!
The significance of the ILO and international labor sentiment on this issue is that it shows there is a common understanding that an anti-worker government cannot play host to an ILO-Asian Regional Meeting grounded in the basic principles of labor-management-government tripartism and mutual respect. Further, it clearly shows that there is an international labor consensus around the KCTU and FKTU cause. Certain domestic media corporations have denounced the KCTU and FKTU decision of nonparticipation as “headstrong,” or a “selfish attitude” of “holding an international event hostage” in order to resolve domestic issues. But if this were true, then why would the international labour community send the two national trade union centers their support and solidarity?
Both national trade union confederations have been clear and given warnings several times now that the principle reason for the collapse of labor-government relations has been the government’s repressive labor policies and Labor Minister KIM, Dae Hwan, and that without a fullscale turnaround, that the KCTU and FKTU will be unable to participate in the ILO-ARM. With no indication that the Korean government would try to resolve the situation, the KCTU and FKTU informed ILO Director-General Juan Somavia of their non-participation on August 12th. But instead of making efforts to repair relations, the government denounced both of the two national trade union centers in Korea and busied itself spreading stories to international society, including the ILO and ICFTU, that distorted the labor-government and labor relations situation in Korea.
3. We must turn over a new leaf to successfully hold the ILO-ARM in Korea :
From the vantage point of trade unions, the ILO-ARM is a meaningful event where the different labor realities and challenges in the Asia Pacific region can be discussed and through that process, give rise to policies that address such issues. We are not problematizing the ILO-ARM in itself or the ILO. At core is the question of whether an anti-worker government is competent to hold an ILO-Asian Regional Meeting for the advancement of workers’ rights and spread of decent work. That is, we are raising the issue that having an anti-worker government play host to the ILO-ARM damages the fundamental spirit and principles of the ILO as well as its image.
The issue raised by the two confederations goes beyond the domestic dimension, and is not only an international issue, but has become the topic of discussion throughout the international labor community.
The majority of groups expressed the view that it would be difficult to hold the ILO-ARM as planned under the current circumstances.
It is not too late for the government to acknowledge the gravity of the situation and accept the general feeling at the ILO and in the international labor community with humility. Instead of calling both national trade union confederations “headstrong” and throwing itself into efforts to tarnish the two confederations’ integrity, the government should be prepared to listen to what this situation means, and submit a series of plans to reform its anti-worker policies and revive relations between labor and government in accordance with the request of the ILO and international labor community.
4. There is still time to have a successful ILO-ARM:
The ILO concluded that it would be difficult to hold the ILO-ARM as planned under the current conditions. As a first step, it has postponed the meeting dates. The two national trade union centers have agreed to revisit the ILO-ARM question for discussion at the ILO Governing Body meeting planned for November, and are requesting that an ILO high-level mission composed of the relevant authorities be dispatched to Korea in advance to lend their support to resolving industrial relations problems.
When the ILO mission comes, we will be candid about explaining the current breakdown of labor-government relations and our cause, and hold genuine discussions on ways to make the ILO-ARM a meaningful opportunity for the promotion of true labor rights.
5. The government must first address the serious issues at home, not expend all its energies in Geneva
Given that the ILO-ARM meeting has been postponed, the two national trade union confederations highlight that renewed efforts should be made to ensure a successful opening of the ILO-ARM. But it is not possible to hold a successful ILO-ARM based solely on the one-sided efforts of the two national trade union centers. The government must acknowledge the gravity of the situation in Korea. There must be a full commitment to real efforts on the part of the government and shown through visible measures credible to workers, such as the resignation of the current Labor Minister.
Many investigations have already revealed that the labor-management problems in Korea are among the worst of situations in the world. Instead of trying to cover up this reality, we must be transparent and see things for what they are to renew efforts to address these issues.
Through this process, we demand no less than joint efforts to not make the ILO-ARM meeting a ritual formality but rather to use this opportunity to build and develop genuine labor-management-government relations.
26 August 2005
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions/Federation of Korean Trade Unions ■
All Potential Strikers, Be Ready to face “Emergency Mediation”?
Emergency Mediation should be abolished;
If retained, the decision should rest with the President
As soon as the Asiana Pilots’ Union went on strike on 17 July 2005, business groups have incessantly called upon the government to exercise emergency mediation powers, and the government did just that on 10 August 2005.
According to the provisions under article 76 of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act (TULRAA), the “emergency mediation” measure can only be invoked by the Minister of Labor when: (1) the industrial action relates to public services, or (2) is vast in extent, or (3) because of its specific character, it risks causing pronounced damage to the national economy or endangering the daily life of the public. When emergency mediation powers are exercised, a trade union on strike is ordered back to work immediately and industrial action is prohibited for a period of 30 days. During this time period, if negotiations between labor and management do not result in a settlement, a government-imposed arbitration settlement enters into force.
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) lawyer KWON, Du-seop has pointed out that, “Emergency mediation is tantamount to declaring martial law,” and “martial law is not law, but rather a measure imposed by fiat that restricts the fundamental rights of citizens; since emergency mediation suspends workers’ 3 fundamental labor rights upon a decision by fiat of the Labor Minister, emergency mediation is the Minister of Labor’s declaration of martial law.” Thus, it follows that special emergency mediation powers should only be exercised with absolute circumspection and under exceptional circumstances. However, if emergency mediation can be invoked for a strike like the Asiana pilots’ strike, then it can be applied to any strike in Korea. This is the legal counsel’s critique. It is only natural that effective strikes hurt the company targeted, so it is inappropriate to measure “pronounced damage to the national economy” on the grounds that a strike is felt in terms of financial losses. Lawyer KWON added, “Circumstances for which ‘pronounced damage to the national economy’ would apply would be a situation such as the Asian Financial Crisis and IMF bailout.”
KCTU Policy Director KIM, Tae-yeon also expressed a similar view: “restricting fundamental labor rights for reason of ‘endangering the national economy or daily life of the public’ is far too broad and open to arbitrary interpretation.” He also touched on the government’s proposed “Roadmap to Mature Industrial Relations,” which includes a plan to lengthen the prohibition on industrial action from 30 to 60 days in emergency mediation cases. Director KIM contended, “Ultimately, the institution of emergency mediation ought to be abolished. Under the hypothetical situation that the government abolished compulsory arbitration for the essential public services but retained the special powers of emergency mediation, the decision to exercise such powers should not rest with the Minister of Labor but be deliberated by the Cabinet Council and if passed, be submitted to the president for decision-making. Even so, compulsory arbitration imposed without the consent of the two parties should be abolished.” Director KIM added, “Grounds for imposing emergency mediation should be specific and strictly limited to cases that directly affect the life and death, physical safety of the public.”
KCTU lawyer KWON has also argued that, “The decision to restrict fundamental labor rights safeguarded in our Constitution must rest with the president, a person who is politically accountable for his decisions.”
Since the special powers of emergency adjustment were created in 1963, the government has exercised it twice. Once in 1969 at the Korean Shipbuilding Corporation (now Hanjin Heavy Industries) and the second time in 1993 during the Hyundai Motors Workers’ Union strike. In neither case was compulsory arbitration imposed, as settlements were reached through autonomous bargaining. For the Korean Shipbuilding Corporation workers, who had been on strike for 49 days, a settlement was reached through autonomous negotiations with management 3 days after emergency adjustment was invoked, and for the Hyundai Motors workers who had been on strike for 40 days, one day after. ■
Controversial Move to Designate Airlines an “Essential Public Service”
Government, Business and Media Corporations Use their Power to Fashion Public Opinion against Labor; The Blue House and the Ministry of Labor “Reluctant”
Right after the union went on strike, business interests argued that along with [the government] invoking special “emergency mediation” powers to order the strikers back to work, that air transport should be designated an essential public service. In its report entitled, “Proposals toward Rational Labor-Management Collective Bargaining Agreements in the Airline Industry,” released on the 18th, the Federation of Korean Industry (FKI) charged that commercial airlines had utilities-like (public infrastructure) characteristics and profoundly influenced the national economy and daily life of the public. As such, argued the FKI, the government should extend “essential public services” status to airlines. The Korean Employers’ Federation (KEF) also issued a press release on the same day, insinuating that the strike was “illegal” and carrying the same line of argument to expand the scope of essential public services to include commercial airlines.
On the 19th, while Mokhee Lee, the 5th chair of the ruling Uri Party (“Our Open Party”) policy coordination committee, was clarifying his previous statement that, “High-waged workers should be subject to certain limitations of their 3 basic workers’ rights,” he added that the ruling party would consider extending essential public services status to airlines. On the 21st, the Grand National Party announced that they would draft a bill, to forward in the September session of the National Assembly, to expand the definition of essential public services to include airlines.
Economic dailies and the conservative media also produced editorials to prop up such arguments. On 8 August 2005, the Construction and Transportation Minister CHOO, Byung-Jik announced, “Given the economic importance of air transport and government efforts to promote Korea as a logistics hub, we are planning to proactively look into designating the airline industry an essential public service.”
In contrast, the Blue House (president’s office) and the Ministry of Labor is known to hold the conflicting view that, “the global trend moves toward constricting the scope of essential public services or eliminating such designations.”
The current law defines the scope of essential public services to include: rail (including inner-city rail such as subway systems), water, electricity, gas, oil refinery and supply services, hospitals, the Bank of Korea (the mints) and telecommunications services. Once a sector is designated an essential public service, compulsory arbitration can be imposed. Referral to compulsory arbitration activates a 15-day ban on industrial action, but even after the 15 days, unions in the essential public services still cannot resume a strike because the dispute is “concluded” by the arbitration award, which has the same effect as a labor-management agreement. Thus, in reality, the compulsory arbitration mechanism functions as a blanket denial of the right to strike for workers in these sectors of the economy.
Prior to 1996, the definition of public infrastructure (currently “essential public services”) included the airline industry; however, airlines were excluded from the list after the labor law revision of 1996.
Business interests, the government and the media also advocated for expanding the definition of essential public services when the Korean Airlines pilots went on strike in 2001, and in February 2002, National Assemblyperson PARK, Seong-hui drafted a bill to extend such status to airlines. However, the bill was dropped as it ran counter to international trends and met the opposition of labor, and with the end of term for MPs in the 16th National Assembly, the bill itself was scrapped. ■
KCTU Protest Delegation Meet with Indonesian Ambassador in Seoul
Stop Repression against the Sugar Workers’ FSPM-TG Federation!
To support Indonesian sugar workers struggling to defend their new federation, the FSPM-TG, the KCTU made a protest delegation visit to the Indonesian Ambassador on 19 August 2005. The delegation, made up of OH, Gil-seong (KCTU Vice President), LEE, Chang-keun (KCTU International Director), SON, Sang-hyun Son (Korean Federation of Service Workers' Unions Solidarity Director) and Hyewon Chong (IUF representative in Korea), met with the Indonesian Ambassador to Korea and other diplomatic representatives at the embassy in Seoul, and called upon the Indonesian government to halt harassment of the new FSPM-TG federation, demanded the reinstatement of sacked FSPM-TG President Daud Sukamto at the privately-owned Gunung Madu Plantation and an end to union-repression at the state-owned PTPN complexes, and the safeguarding of fundamental labor rights in Indonesia. The Indonesian Ambassador responded that he would immediately convey the KCTU concerns to the Jakarta while the delegation affirmed that it would continue to watch the situation closely.
The KCTU solidarity action is part of a larger series of international solidarity action, which includes union protests on August 2 in Melbourne, New York, Toronto, Canberra and Wellington and a demonstration by the Hong Kong HKCTU outside the offices of Kerry Holdings, the investment fund owned by Robert Kuok whose Kuok Investment Group has a 45% stake in the Gunung Madu plantation. ■
Lee Changgeun
International Director
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions
Tel.: +82-2-2670-9234 Fax: +82-2-2635-1134
E-mail: inter@kctu.org Web-site : http://kctu.org
2nd Fl. Daeyoung Bld., 139 Youngdeungpo-2-ga, Youngdeungpo-ku, Seoul 150-032 Korea
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