KCTU agrees to join social dialogue on mega special zones for first time in 6 years

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions has agreed to participate in a government-proposed "single-issue social dialogue" on the special law governing mega special economic zones — the first time the KCTU has joined a government-initiated social dialogue in six years, since a labor-management-government representatives' meeting convened in 2020 to address the COVID-19 crisis.

The decision does not, however, mean an immediate return to the Economic, Social and Labor Council, known as the Gyeongsa-nowi. The KCTU said it will join the council only if three core conditions are met: consensus-based decision-making, guaranteed participation by industry-level unions, and a change to the council's name.

The KCTU announced Thursday that its central executive committee had met and decided to take part in the social dialogue on the mega special zone legislation.

The union has consistently demanded that labor exemption provisions be stripped from the special zone bill and that any discussions start from scratch without presupposing the introduction of such exemptions.

The government's proposed agenda is reported to include exempting high-income semiconductor research and development workers from the 52-hour workweek cap and extending the permitted employment period for fixed-term workers. The KCTU said it concluded it needed to join the talks and voice its opposition directly in order to block deregulation of working hours and rules governing non-regular employment.

"The KCTU needs to make its opposition clearly known in order to stop labor exemptions and any rollback of labor rights," KCTU Chairman Yang Kyung-soo said. "We will enter the social dialogue to block the 52-hour exemption and the push for a white-collar exemption, and we will push for the introduction of a four-and-a-half-day workweek."

The KCTU also plans to propose restricting the use of non-regular workers within mega special zones, countering the government's push to expand the scope of dispatched and fixed-term employment. The union said it will also call for profits and operating profit generated through corporate tax benefits to be returned to society.

The KCTU reaffirmed Thursday its broader push to pursue social bargaining, including eventual participation in the Economic, Social and Labor Council. The plan calls for consultations based on the three conditions — consensus-based operations, guaranteed industry-union participation, and a name change — with formal legal and institutional procedures to follow once an agreement is reached.

Earlier, at a central executive committee meeting on July 23, the KCTU had decided to maintain its boycott of the council in its current form, judging that participation would be ineffective. It called instead for the council to be restructured — with a new name, a revised voting framework, and a deliberative, consensus-based operating model that allows industry-level unions to participate directly in labor-management-government discussions.

The final decision on joining the council will be made at a KCTU delegate assembly. After disagreements over the relevant procedures emerged at Thursday's central executive committee meeting, Chairman Yang said he would use his authority as chairman to convene a delegate assembly between Oct. 6 and Oct. 8.