Deputy Minister of Employment: "Establishing 'Ground Rules' for Tripartite Social Dialogue... Significant Meaning"

Explanation of the Progress of the Main Committee Meeting of the Tripartite Commission Held the Previous Day
"No Unilateral Government Push on Working Hours, etc."

Lee Seong-hee, Vice Minister of Employment and Labor, said on the 7th, "The fact that labor, management, and government have agreed on the basic principles and direction of dialogue holds significant meaning in that it establishes the 'ground rules'."

He made these remarks during a meeting with reporters at the Government Complex Sejong, stating, "Through the Economic, Social, and Labor Council (ESLC) plenary session held the day before, labor, management, and government have found common denominators and are ready to officially start social dialogue." Various labor issues, including the working hours reform promoted by the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, extension of retirement age, and resolution of unfair disparities, will be addressed at the ESLC, which took its first step the day before.

At the ESLC plenary session, the highest decision-making body of the council, labor, management, and government approved the formation of three committees, including special committees and agenda-specific committees, and adopted a declaration titled 'Principles and Direction of Social Dialogue for Sustainable Jobs and Future Generations.'

In the declaration, labor, management, and government agreed on the basic principle of broadly identifying agendas not only for the current problems facing the labor market but also for moving toward the future, and conducting discussions in the spirit of dialogue and compromise.

Lee Seong-hee, Deputy Minister of Labor, is announcing the results of the operation and planned labor inspection of the working hours exemption system on the 18th at the annex of the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Vice Minister Lee explained, "(This declaration) contains very comprehensive content, but it is significant in that it establishes the ground rules," adding, "In nearly 30 years of social dialogue history, there have only been two occasions, in 1996 and 2014, when such basic principles were agreed upon."

He continued, "Last year, the conditions for social dialogue were not sufficiently prepared, as labor, management, and government sharply clashed over working hours reform," and emphasized, "Since trust is not immediately built just by having dialogue under such conditions, agreeing on the basic principles for trust-building is important, and the declaration contains key content on how social dialogue will be conducted under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration going forward."

Vice Minister Lee said that the working hours reform, which was pushed last year but retreated due to controversy over long working hours, is the government's priority agenda in this social dialogue.

However, he stated, "Reforming the system to allow long working hours is regressive. Protection of workers' health rights must also be supplemented," and added, "It will not be decided unilaterally but discussed in a way that labor, management, and government can accept."

Furthermore, he noted that the improvement of the dual structure, which has been discussed through the Ministry of Labor's Win-Win Wage Committee and ESLC research groups, will now be discussed on the ESLC platform. Regarding the application of the Labor Standards Act to workplaces with fewer than five employees, which labor unions have demanded, he said, "It seems that this will be addressed in the agenda-specific committee dealing with the alleviation of unfair disparities after going through the special committee."