KCTU returns to government talks over semiconductor workweek exemption plan
The umbrella union will rejoin tripartite talks after six years to oppose proposed labor-rule exemptions at major semiconductor clusters.
Yang Kyeung-soo, president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, one of the two major umbrella unions in Korea, speaks during a town-hall meeting with young people in Seoul on Sept. 15.
YONHAP
A major umbrella union said Thursday it will join a government-proposed "social dialogue" on issues over an envisioned special bill aimed at rolling back some labor rules, including the 52-hour workweek limit at megascale semiconductor clusters.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), one of the two largest labor groups in Korea, said it reached the decision during a central executive committee meeting.
"We concluded that it is necessary to participate in the dialogue and directly voice our opposition to expanding labor exemptions and to prevent the regression of labor rights," the KCTU said.
The move came after Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon proposed earlier this week to create a "one-point social dialogue" to discuss the so-called megacluster bill pushed by the government and the ruling party.
The government aims to introduce the bill by the end of this month, which may include a plan to exempt managers and researchers in the top 3 percent of income earners from the 52-hour workweek limit, as well as overtime, night and holiday work allowances. The nation's 52-hour workweek law was introduced in 2018 to prevent overwork.
The government is also considering extending the basis period for the selective working hour system from the current one month to six months in the special megaclusters.
The selective working hour system is designed to allow employees to work intensively during a specific period, as long as their total working hours over the basis period do not exceed the limit.
But the two major umbrella labor unions, which include the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), have strongly condemned the moves as an anti-labor policy and vowed to block the proposed legislation.
The KCTU's participation in the dialogue will mark its first return to the three-way labor talks involving the government and employers in six years, since it took part in crisis management dialogue during the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020.
Yonhap
