민주노총, ‘숙의형’ 사회적 대화 기구 논의 계속…“경사노위법 개정 정부와 교섭할 것”

The Democratic Labor Federation (민주노총) is continuing discussions about establishing a new social dialogue mechanism, centered around 'counsel,' to replace the existing Economic and Social Labor Conference (경사노위). The new mechanism aims to amplify voices on issues such as excessive profits distribution and activate industry-specific negotiations.

The Democratic Labor Federation plans to hold the 10th Central Executive Committee (중집) on January 20th, starting at 10 AM in Seoul's downtown meeting room, to discuss the establishment and operation standards of this new social dialogue mechanism. Government negotiations will focus on amending the Council on Social Dialogue Act (경사노위법) to facilitate this transition.

The Democratic Labor Federation intends to lead the industry-specific negotiations without a central organization (총연맹), allowing individual trade unions to participate and discuss sector-specific issues. This new social dialogue mechanism differs from the existing 경사노위. The Democratic Labor Federation maintains that the 경사노위, which was previously the predecessor to the Federation, cannot return due to its historical role in yielding to government policies.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor and the 경사노위 have positively responded to the Democratic Labor Federation's efforts. The previous day, Labor Minister Kim Young-hun praised the Democratic Labor Federation's decision to initiate discussions on social dialogue, emphasizing the importance of adopting a consensus-based operating system to enhance the conversation. 경사노위's Vice President, Kim Ji-hong, also acknowledged the Federation's more progressive stance, welcoming and appreciating the move.

Recent developments, such as the implementation of outcome-based performance pay (N%) and the push for the semiconductor mega-industrial zone, have created new potential areas for social dialogue. However, some individual labor unions within the Democratic Labor Federation, including the nationwide union Korean Labor Confederation, have criticized the proposed agreement-based approach, stating that it may not favor workers.

Additionally, the potential resistance from 경사노위, which represents labor interests, and other challenges may complicate the implementation of this new initiative.