Rivalry within labor

Can't umbrella unions hear the screams of the unemployed?

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) decided Wednesday to put off its participation in dialogue based on a one-off consultative body of government, employment and labor, as proposed by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun. The FKTU's attitude is incomprehensible, given the urgent need for such a discussion at a time when the job crisis is deepening as a side effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. The postponement seems to be nothing but a play in a power struggle with the other umbrella union ― the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).

The FKTU, which has been taking part in the official dialogue apparatus, the Economic, Social & Labor Council, showed a stubborn reaction to the one-time dialogue format that the KCTU had first proposed to the prime minister. The FKTU instead called to reactivate a presidential panel by setting up a special subcommittee for COVID-19 within the council, which was little other than a counterproposal to the KCTU in order to avoid losing the negotiating initiative to its more militant rival.

The current situation, however, is too grave to allow the two umbrella unions to be mired in a battle for supremacy. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the number of workers at companies hiring one or more people in March fell 225,000 from the same month in 2019.

The new coronavirus pandemic starkly revealed the size of the nation's social insurance blind spot and the weakness of its social safety nets. There are lots of tasks to be tackled by the trilateral forum, such as strengthening the safety nets for vulnerable workers, sharing the financial burden and finding ways to retain jobs. If they miss the opportunity for compromise, its aftereffects will be uncontrollable.

It comes as some comfort that both the FKTU and the KCTU agree on the need for dialogue itself. This is time for the umbrella unions to stop unnecessary disputes over who gets the upper hand within the labor community and come to the negotiating table immediately. The government ought not give up its effort to encourage dialogue and persuasion, and do its best as a mediator by drawing both the unions and management into the forum for conversation and compromise.