Unions To Resist Social Contract

Unions are apparently strongly against the social contract between labor, management and the government, put forward by the current administration in a bid to restore international credibility, it was learned Thursday. The secretary general of the Korean Federation of Trade Unions (KFTU), Lee Nam-soon said "we can ask the workers to work hard and accept wage freezes as long as the layoff proposals ar not fully introduced, but not if wage cuts and layoffs become widespread.

Chong Song-hee, the director of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), commented that the plan of government and business is to cover up the cause of the present exchange crisis, and his members cannot accept the approach that labor, which had worked hard, suffer, while conglomerate management, that operated poorly escape responsibility. If they force such an agreement, the KCTU will oppose it, possibly organizing a general strike.