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Carry out labor agreement faithfully at workplaces
The Economic, Social and Labor Council approved a key labor agreement drawn up by union, business and government representatives. This is the first agreement by the country's three key economic players in 22 years following the 1998 Asian financial crisis.
Under the agreement intended to cope with the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, employers promised to maintain employment. The unions agreed to cooperate in helping companies cut work hours and conduct temporary business suspensions. The government, meanwhile, offered to map out a universal unemployment insurance plan by year's end.
The deal means a lot in that social dialogue is urgent to save the anemic economy and households amid the looming unemployment crisis. In fact, the importance of employment stability cannot be overemphasized. Massive layoffs could cause households to fall into debt, which would in turn put a damper on consumer sentiment, thereby taking a toll on private investment. So efforts to minimize job losses are all the more important at a time when exports are dipping amid the coronavirus-driven shrinking of demand across the world.
Of course, the deal is not flawless, given the absence of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the country's largest union umbrella group. Considering that the group itself had suggested the meeting to discuss the agreement, it cannot avoid criticism for being irresponsible. The KCTU rejected the agreement, stating it did not include a ban on layoffs.
The most important thing is to carry out the agreement faithfully at workplaces. There could be unexpected problems over the course of implementation, and these problems if not addressed properly could imperil the agreement as a whole. What is certain amid the unprecedented crisis is that labor unrest is undesirable. Only when companies remain afloat is job creation possible. Now is the time for employers and employees to back down and share the burden to nurse the economy back to health and ease socioeconomic inequality.
