Labor and Management Remain Divided Over Retirement Age Extension and Wages
Plans for Forums and Public Hearings Underway... Legislation May Not Be Achievable This Year
The Democratic Party of Korea is beginning a full-scale review for the phased implementation of raising the mandatory retirement age. This move is interpreted as an effort to accelerate discussions on extending the retirement age, now that the three major reforms-prosecution, media, and judiciary-are entering their final stages.
On the morning of November 3, at 11:00 a.m., the Democratic Party will hold the first plenary session of the Special Committee on Extending the Retirement Age for Recovery and Growth in the National Assembly’s floor leader conference room. During this session, differences in positions between labor and management, as well as the progress of the special committee’s discussions, will be reported to the party leadership.
Previously, the Democratic Party elevated the Retirement Age Extension Task Force, which was formed last April, to a special committee to discuss the legislative process for extending the retirement age with both labor and management representatives.
President Lee Jaemyung also pledged during his presidential campaign to gradually increase the statutory retirement age from the current 60 to 65 by 2033, in line with changes to the timing of National Pension payments.
The Democratic Party initially planned to announce a joint labor-management statement on the retirement age extension bill in September and to propose the statutory retirement age extension bill in November. However, there are now predictions that legislative passage within this year may be difficult.
This is because the labor sector, which insists on following President Lee’s campaign pledge, and the business sector, which argues for re-employment after retirement at age 60 and the simultaneous introduction of a job-based pay system due to concerns about reduced new hiring for young people and early retirements, have failed to narrow their differences, leading to prolonged discussions.
A Democratic Party lawmaker who is a member of the special committee stated, “Because of the presidential election in the middle, there was a two-month period during which we could not hold discussions, and since this is such a challenging issue, it is taking a long time.”
Nevertheless, the Democratic Party plans to seek a compromise based on the positions of both sides. A party official said, “Even after the first plenary session, we will go through various procedures to gather opinions and prepare an outcome that can be accepted, in order to legislate the retirement age extension.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
