The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) announced on the 20th that it has finalized this year's wage increase demand at 8.3% (a fixed monthly wage increase of 380,177 KRW).
This figure is the sum of the basic wage increase of 4.8%, which combines the government's economic growth forecast (2.2%) and consumer price inflation forecast (2.6%), plus 2.0% reflecting the unaccounted real wage loss due to inflation, and 1.5% solidarity wage increase to address wage inequality.
For non-regular workers, an increase of 380,177 KRW in fixed monthly wages will be demanded to reduce the wage gap with regular workers. The wage increase demand serves as a guideline for unions under the FKTU when determining the wage increase rates to request in individual wage negotiations.
The FKTU emphasized, "Our country has a high dependence on the external economy, so the high interest rates and high inflation in major countries have a greater impact. The soaring inflation is leading to a decline in workers' real wages and significantly increasing the burden of household living expenses. We must seek a virtuous cycle structure of workers' wage increases → revitalization of domestic demand → economic revitalization."
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