▲Ahead of the 1st plenary meeting of the Minimum Wage Committee at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 18th, labor officials are calling for the resignation of Sookmyung Women’s University professor Kwon Soon-won, secretary of the public interest committee. All members of the public interest committee, including Park Joon-sik, the chairman of the Minimum Wage Committee, were absent from the meeting, and the labor community condemned the public interest members and left the meeting. (Reporter Taehyun Shin holjjak@)
The Korea Employers Federation (KEF) expressed regret that the first plenary meeting of the Minimum Wage Committee on the 18th was disrupted without even starting, and urged the labor community to take a responsible negotiating stance.
The Korea Employers Federation said in a statement that day, “There was an unprecedented situation in which the Minimum Wage Committee could not be held due to the unreasonable claims and actions of the labor community. We also express our deep regret for having caused the meeting to collapse.”
Prior to the Minimum Wage Committee plenary meeting, the labor community held a press conference calling for the resignation of Kwon Soon-won, secretary of the Public Interest Committee (Professor of Business Administration at Sookmyung Women’s University). Commissioner Kwon served as the chairperson of the Future Labor Market Research Group, actively participating in the establishment of government reform policy tasks that are promoting labor market reforms such as working hours and wage system reform. He insisted that he resign because it was difficult to expect independence and fairness from Kwon, who was pro-government.
At the meeting, nine members of the public interest, including Park Joon-sik, chairman of the Supreme Wage Committee, did not attend the meeting. Chairman Park and others took issue with the fact that labor leaders, other than nine labor representatives, chanted slogans with phrases such as “Raise the minimum wage drastically” and “Public Interest Commissioner Kwon Soon-won resign” at the meeting venue and were absent. He declared bankruptcy and left.
The Korea Employers Federation said, “The independence of public interest members can be severely damaged.” “Workers members, employer members, and public interest members have the important role and responsibility of ‘determining the minimum wage’ as stipulated by the Constitution and the Minimum Wage Act. We strongly demand that the labor community take a more responsible attitude.”