Supra-sector panel agrees on compromise measures to save jobs

SEOUL, Feb. 23 (Yonhap) -- A multilateral panel involving a major union,
management, civic groups and the government agreed Monday on a set of measures to
help save jobs and expand social safety networks amid a deepening global economic
recession.

The labor sector conceded to a wage freeze or wage cuts at troubled businesses,
while management pledged to refrain from layoffs. The companies will introduce
workshifts and a peak wage system and operate vocational training and unpaid
leave to enable job sharing, the panel said in a statement.
The four-party panel, led by one of the biggest umbrella unions, the Federation
of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), and the Korea Employers Federation (KEF), was
inaugurated on Feb. 3 to work out an acceptable compromise over feared job losses
and corporate collapse as the nation braces for the first recession in 11 years.
The existing tripartite commission of labor, management and government was
expanded to include civic groups, in order to embrace temporary workers and small
self-employed businesses who do not belong to labor unions.
"Workers agreed to a wage freeze. This is to ensure job sharing and to maintain
employment, not for the benefit of employers," Lee Se-joong, chairman of the
panel, said. "They showed their determination to overcome the crisis."
In return, the government will give tax breaks to companies who participate in
the job sharing plan and contribute to welfare funds.
Civic groups and religious organizations will lead efforts to promote donation
and volunteer assistance to help people in low-income bracket and jobless people
stand on their feet.
"We are facing a global crisis. If the world economy gets worse, our employment
conditions deteriorate because South Korea largely depends on exports," said Lee
Soo-young, chief of the KEF. "We are required to share the burden to achieve a
recovery in the market."
brk@yna.co.kr
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