Labor groups demand raise in next year’s minimum wage
Leading labor umbrella groups called for a steep increase in next year’s minimum wage on Tuesday to overcome deepening economic inequality amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as the annual negotiation procedure for the matter is set to kick off.
“(The country) should actively raise the minimum wage as social polarization and economic inequality have been deteriorating amid the pandemic,” the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), one of the country’s major umbrella unions, said in a statement.
Major economic forecasters here and abroad have raised South Korea’s growth outlook for next year from the low 3-percent range to the mid 3-percent range, it added, emphasizing that the wage of low-income laborers should increase in line with this prediction. Last month, the International Monetary Fund anticipated Korea’s economy to grow 3.6 percent this year, up from its estimate in January of 3.1 percent.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), another labor umbrella group, also called for an increase in next year’s legal minimum wage, along with measures to support small business owners hit hard by the economic fallout from COVID-19, during a press conference held in front of the National Assembly complex in Seoul.
The labor groups’ demand came as the Minimum Wage Commission is set to hold its first plenary meeting later in the day to deliberate on the legal minimum wage for 2022.
The group of 27 representatives, comprised of nine each from three sides — employers, employees and those representing social interests — annually holds plenary meetings around this time to decide the following year’s minimum wage. The decision should be made before Aug. 5, the legal deadline for the official notice the Ministry of Employment and Labor must deliver to the public.
Last year, the commission set the current minimum hourly wage at 8,720 won ($7.85), posting the smallest-ever annual increase rate of 1.5 percent, as the country faced economic headwinds from the pandemic.
The FKTU said it is working to come up with a proposal for next year’s minimum wage in cooperation with the KCTU and announce it before comprehensive negotiations kick off.