Government Warns Against Illegal Labor Activities

Korea Herald, 26 May 1996

The government yesterday warned it will not tolerate any illegal labor activities, calling on labor activists to abide by labor-related laws.

The government will not sit idle if labor activists meddle in labor disputes illegally, said Choi Seung-boo, vice minister of labor affairs. Choi’s get-tough stand came after the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), an authorized labor organization, threatened to intensify labor strife beginning next week.

Choi complained that some labor organizations are illegally intervening in individual labor disputes in violation of labor-related laws which ban third party intervention. Though the nation is now seeking to revise labor laws by the comprehensive labor reform drive, all the labor-related laws must be observed since they remain in effective, Choi reiterated.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Labor Affairs has expected this year’s wage negotiations at the nation’s businesses to progress smoothly. According to statistics released by the ministry yesterday, 11 labor disputes were underway as of last weekend, fewer than the 18 registered at mid-May last year. A third of businesses with 100 employees or more across the nation concluded their wage deals by agreeing on an average 6.7 percent rise for this year, the ministry said.

The ministry statistics showed that 1,951 work places, 33.5 percent of the total 5,830 nationwide, struck their wage deals as of yesterday. The percentage was 1.7 points higher than 31.8 percent which had been registered during the same period last year.