Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon on the 15th formally proposed social dialogue between labor and management to discuss labor exemptions to be included in a special law creating semiconductor mega-zones. The aim is to win over labor groups, but finding common ground appears difficult. The exemptions under review include introducing a "white-collar exemption" that would remove highly paid professionals and research and development staff from working-hour limits, and extending the settlement period for flexible working-hour schemes to six months from the current one month. Also under discussion are a longer permissible term for fixed-term workers and a wider range of jobs open to dispatched workers within the zones. The dialogue was formalized when President Lee Jae-myung proposed it at a meeting with the heads of the country's two umbrella labor federations on the 3rd of this month.
Yet there has been virtually no case in which social dialogue endorsed by both umbrella federations has led to an easing of labor rules. Even the Economic, Social and Labor Council, the official tripartite channel for talks among labor, management and government, remains only half-functional because the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions has stayed away. Against that backdrop, it is questionable whether labor groups can agree to greater labor flexibility. The Federation of Korean Trade Unions has already drawn a line, saying that joining the dialogue does not mean accepting the exemptions. Moreover, given that Minister Kim has in effect opposed exempting the semiconductor industry from the 52-hour workweek under a separate special law, the dialogue could end up as a device for delaying the exemptions or scrapping them altogether. That is why the government must clearly set out a specific agenda, negotiating terms and a timetable.
The semiconductor industry is a race against time. The United States, Taiwan and Japan are concentrating national resources on their own chip industries, and China is chasing hard with its survival staked on advancing its technology. If outdated labor rules hold companies back, Korea will inevitably fall behind in global competition. Labor groups, too, should stop focusing only on how the industry's gains are divided and instead make a decision to protect the foundations of competitiveness. The government and the National Assembly should not cling to social dialogue as a matter of form, but should ease labor rules faster and more broadly in the interest of national competitiveness. The exemption from the 52-hour workweek should be introduced in the mega-zones and then expanded step by step without limits on industry or region. It is also time to move past the outdated habit of casting regulatory relief inside the zones as a favor for particular conglomerates.
