The Minimum Wage Commission has begun full-scale deliberations on next year's minimum wage. Labor and management sides that make up the Commission clashed sharply over wage levels from the first day of deliberations.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 21st that it held the first plenary meeting of the Minimum Wage Commission at the Government Complex in Sejong. The Minimum Wage Commission is a social consensus body consisting of a total of 27 members, with 9 each from worker representatives, employer representatives, and public interest representatives. The Commission must decide the following year's minimum wage by August 5 each year.
Labor groups argued that a significant increase in next year's minimum wage is necessary. Ryu Gi-seop, worker representative and secretary-general of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), said, "As real wages have declined, the distribution function, which is the basic function of the minimum wage, is not working properly." This year's minimum wage is 10,320 won, up 2.9% from last year. Based on the rate of increase in the first year of a government's launch, this is the second lowest since the Kim Dae-jung administration. In this year's deliberations, whether to apply the minimum wage to contract workers—which labor has long demanded—is expected to be a major issue.
The management side countered that a significant increase in next year's minimum wage would be difficult to accept. Ryu Ki-jung, employer representative and executive managing director of the Korea Enterprises Federation, said, "The debt of self-employed people has greatly increased, and the shock of the Middle East war is spreading throughout the domestic economy. Even if next year's minimum wage is frozen, it could still be a burden in the field."
On the same day, the Minimum Wage Commission elected public interest member Kwon Soon-won as the new chairman. Chairman Kwon said, "The minimum wage must be considered together with the livelihood of low-wage workers, the value of labor, the ability of small business owners and SMEs to pay, employment conditions, and the economic situation. Whether to apply the minimum wage to contract workers also requires careful review and deliberation."
However, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) walked out during the meeting in protest, saying Chairman Kwon was unfit to serve as chairman. Chairman Kwon led the Future Labor Market Research Society, a labor policy advisory body during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. The KCTU stated its reason for opposition, saying he was "a figure who led the way in policies that rationalized long working hours and regressed workers' lives."
