FKTU urges Democratic Party to resume retirement age extension committee

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions said Wednesday it had sent a formal letter to the Democratic Party of Korea urging the party to promptly convene a third high-level policy consultation with the union and resume the special committee on extending the mandatory retirement age.

In the letter, the FKTU said that at a Sept. 10 meeting with Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok, the party had pledged to quickly reconvene the third high-level policy consultation to faithfully implement the policy agreement between the two sides and advance their partnership — but that no meeting date had yet been set.

The FKTU also noted that President Lee Jae Myung, at a Sept. 3 meeting with the heads of the two major union federations, had expressed agreement that the National Assembly should deliberate on the retirement age issue and reach a conclusion within the year.

"The Democratic Party must promptly resume discussions in the retirement age extension special committee," the FKTU said, urging the party to "take an active role in ensuring substantive legislative discussions on retirement age extension can take place, based on input from both labor and management."

The FKTU and the Democratic Party last held a second high-level policy consultation in November last year, when Jung Chung-rae was party leader, and have not convened a follow-up session since.

The Democratic Party-led special committee on retirement age extension had originally aimed to pass legislation last year, but at a January meeting it proposed delaying that goal and pushing legislation to the second half of this year, after the local elections.

The FKTU pushed back, calling it a "legislative delay," and walked out of the meeting, declining to participate in the committee's sessions since.

In April, the special committee held a labor sector forum with only the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in attendance.