Ruling party suggests postponing controversial multiple unions rule

(ATTN: ADDS labor minister's remarks at bottom)
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- The ruling Grand National Party (GNP) has proposed
deferring by three years the introduction of a multiple unions system which is
fiercely opposed by the country's militant umbrella unions.
The Lee Myung-bak administration's labor law revisions would allow more than one
union in a single workplace and have been decried by the nation's two labor
umbrella groups -- the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the
Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU).
They had formed an alliance against the move but the moderate FKTU said Monday it
would break the agreement and back the government's revisions.
While meeting with the leaders of the government, company management and the FKTU
on Monday night, GNP floor leader Ahn Sang-soo suggested postponing the
enforcement of the revisions until 2013. The original bill was scheduled to take
effect next year.
Ahn also stressed the need for a step-by-step process for imposing a ban on the
paying of wages to full-time union representatives. He suggested that companies
with more than 10,000 employees comply with the wage ban from next year, though
the ban would be introduced in stages for smaller companies.
"Ahn has been working hard to prepare the compromise proposal. The negotiations
will be continued to draw a conclusion by today," an official from the GNP said.
The militant KCTU agrees to allow more than one union at a single workplace, but
opposes the government's demand that only one of them be recognized as the
negotiating partner with the management. It also argued that the government's "no
work, no pay" principle undermines the union's important role as the mediator
between workers and the management.
Labor Minister Yim Tae-hee, however, flatly rejected the GNP's proposal, saying
that the government will hold fast to the original plan.
"It is difficult to give a grace period until the incumbent government's term
ends. As I have said, there will be no postponement," said Yim at a press
briefing. "The government will not accept any delay of the (labor reform) plan
even though the management and labor agreed to it."
brk@yna.co.kr
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