Uri Party has changed its position on forcing the passage of the legislative proposals relating to irregular employment during February's extraordinary session of the National Assembly. Rhee Mok Hee, head of Uri's Fifth Policy Coordination Committee says the party needs to watch developments at the Korean Confederation of Trade Union's (KCTU, Minju Nochong) representatives' convention and be flexible about the timing of the final handling of the legislation. The Hankyoreh has long noted the problems inherent in the bills and has been critical of the way it has been handled unilaterally, so we think Uri's change of stance is a positive one, however late it may have been in coming. All the more so because the situation is one in which there could be a head on collision between labor and the government.
Delaying the timing, however, does not solve everything, because the reason irregular and regular workers as well as senior members of civic groups have been critical of the government and ruling party is not just because of the timetable. The key problem is that legislation that is supposed to "protect" irregular labor would clearly end up expanding the range of jobs that are filled by irregular workers. A typical example of the harmful clauses would be the expansion of irregular to all jobs that are dispatched, or sent by an employer to work elsewhere. Even more serious a problem is how the Labor Ministry and minister Kim Dae Hwan are still arguing that the government's bill has nothing wrong with it. Rhee is at least saying something about "gradual expansion" of the scope of irregular jobs, but that, too, is not something that should be decided unilaterally. The questions should be resolved through substantial dialogue with the parties involved. The strict fact of the matter is that the government's proposal is a step backwards from the proposal by the tripartite commission of labor, business, and government.
Uri's change of position comes at a time when passage would essentially be impossible because of a move to strike on the part of the KCTU, strong opposition from the Democratic Labor Party (DLP), and the Grand National Party's (GNP) refusal to cooperate because of concerns for "chaos at the workplace." Therefore, if it starts to claim that it is somehow being "benevolent" by postponing its push to pass the legislation it will face an even greater backlash. It should humbly accept the advice coming from social elders and produce legislation that is done right and is true to the goal of "protecting" irregular labor, and do so by engaging in substantial dialogue with the parties involved.
The Hankyoreh, 19 February 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] Draft the Right Kind of Legislation on Irregular Labor |
