[Column] Government Cutting Off Dialogue with Labor Union Undermines Job-Based Pay System

“When I asked a local secretary at the US headquarters for coffee, she said, 'That is not my job.' She meant that 'serving' was not part of her duties. Other employees also accepted the secretary's behavior as natural. Performing only the assigned tasks and receiving fair wages?that is the essence of the job-based pay system.”

These are the words of an executive at a global accounting firm responsible for job-based pay consulting. The job-based pay system is not simply a matter of dividing tasks and differentiating salaries. It is a promise that companies and workers strictly adhere to mutually agreed-upon duties and provide definite compensation based on value. To achieve this, a company’s hiring methods, personnel systems, union culture, business ethics, and corporate practices must all change. Considering Korea’s work culture, where employees are assigned 'this and that' without clear job distinctions, there is a mountain of things to change.

The job-based pay system means labor reform that requires sweeping innovation. Dialogue is essential to successfully introduce the job-based pay system and complete labor reform. Experts unanimously agree that “without consensus, job-based pay reform will inevitably fail.” Advanced countries that have introduced job-based pay all achieved labor-management agreements. The government persuaded workers that although job-based pay might cause wage reductions, it would help improve workers’ rights. This is the secret behind the successful establishment of job-based pay in advanced countries in the US and Europe.

However, the current government’s discussions on the job-based pay system targeting public institutions remain at the level of ‘productivity improvement’ and ‘wage efficiency.’ For the private sector, only incentives are offered. There is no effort to engage in dialogue with higher-level unions. The government shows no consideration for how to create a grand compromise between employers and workers. In other words, there is no will to create a high-quality job-based pay system.

In 1969, Japan’s representative ‘far-right’ novelist Mishima Yukio encountered 1,000 students from the ‘far-left’ organization, the National Federation of Student Struggle Committees. Although they had completely opposite views, the discussion proceeded for several hours in a friendly atmosphere. They even found common ground. This was because they recognized each other as ‘counterparts’ who must engage in dialogue despite ideological differences. Labor-management issues are no different. The breakthrough for job-based pay reform must be opened through dialogue and negotiation.