On the morning of July 14, the minimum wage level for next year was decided. 8,720 won, 130 won higher than this year, converted into a monthly salary is 1,182,480 won. 27,170 won higher than this year. The increase rate is only 1.5%. It is the lowest for the current government. Much less than 2.87% last year. No, it is the lowest level in 33 years since the introduction of the minimum wage system in 1988.

From the 3rd on the 13th to the 2nd on the 14th, the process of changing the order over the course of 12 hours and staying up all night was summarized in the 8th to 9th meetings of the Minimum Wage Committee.


● "No cuts." The

8th power meeting started at 3pm on Monday the 13th of the start , without the participation of the KCTU . The meeting began with four members of the KCTU's nomination committee. In the 6th power meeting on the 9th, after the opposition to the user's amendment to reduce the minimum wage from this year, the company refused to attend due to a change in the position of the user after leaving. Earlier, the worker commissioners suggested a plan of 9,430 won, which increased from 8,590 won to 840 won this year, and the employer commissioner proposed 8,500 won to cut 90 won. The difference of opinions was large with 9.8% increase and 1% reduction, respectively.

Although the five members of the Korean Trade Union Recommendation Committee were present, they still expressed strong regret for the cut. This is because the minimum wage has never been reduced since the introduction of the minimum wage. Lee Dong-ho, secretary-general of the Korea Federation of Trade Unions, said, "I had to worry about participating in this negotiation, but I felt that negotiations with the employers who brought down the amendments to the amendment within the first time were meaningless. But I couldn't leave the minimum wages with the lives of low-wage workers only to the employers I attended.”

At that time, the members of the KCTU were holding a rally in front of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, where the Minimum Wage Commission was held, to condemn employers and demand a minimum wage increase. At the same time, the Central Executive Committee was held to discuss whether to attend the meeting again. At the meeting, Yun Taek-geun, vice-chairman of the KCTU, said, "To insist on cutting or freezing is to undermine the purpose of establishing the Minimum Wage Commission and to ridicule the public. If you do not withdraw the cut, you do not need to be in this debate."


● Public Interest Committee'Promotion Section for Discussion' 0.3%~6.1%

Management The business community held that the freeze or cut was inevitable to maintain employment during the Corona19 economic crisis. Lee Tae-hee, head of the Smart Jobs Headquarters of the Small and Medium Business Administration, said, “It shouldn't be a catalyst to make the situation where the minimum wage increase becomes more difficult with Corona 19. In situations where it is difficult to see even a step ahead, we need to look back at the desperate reality of both small businesses and workers. I said." In response, the public interest committees proposed a'deliberation promotion section' and requested that both sides of the labor and management issue amendments. The section is between 8,620 won and 9,110 won, and the increase rate is between 0.3% and 6.1%. It was a proposal to give up cuts and freezes on the employer's side, and to come down to a much lower level than the previous hike. The middle level of the segment was 3.2%, close to 2.87% last year.

The meeting continued with repeated sessions and repentance. Apart from the official reaction, each committee member was busy moving the meeting room and proceeding under the water. In particular, in all meetings where the determination of the minimum wage level is imminent, the meetings are not continued with all the members of the labor, management, and public sectors. They often held regular meetings and held meetings among themselves, or executives gathered for a meeting of the Steering Committee, or fewer people gathered to continue tug-of-war.


At 8pm, after dinner, the members of the Democratic Trade Union visited the press room and declared their last absence. It was decided to stop the communication under the water while fighting over the counter. Vice Chairman Taek-Geun Yoon said, "We can no longer communicate with the user who continues to insist on making a cut that does not fit the purpose of establishing the minimum wage and does not fit the purpose." He said, "It is difficult to corona 19, but it is the next year's minimum wage. I understand that it is difficult for small and medium-sized business owners to raise the minimum wage, but the problem is not a minimum wage but a policy to be solved." When asked whether he should continue to negotiate to raise the minimum wage even if he still remains, Vice Chairman Yoon explained, "I told you to withdraw the cut and seek a way to live head-to-head, but the user did not answer."

The remaining committee members were 5 members of the Korean Trade Union, 9 members of the employer's side, and 9 members of the public interest. The meeting went towards midnight.


● From the 8th to the 9th meeting… After

midnight of the tug-of-war without concessions, the procedure passed to the ninth in accordance with the procedure. The date was already out of date to meet the statutory deadline on August 5th. The committee members continued the meeting saying they could not hold off on the decision.

In the second amendment, both sides of the labor and management accepted the promotion section of the public interest committee. In a very extreme form. In the amount of money proposed by the public interest commissioner, the labor system submitted the upper limit and the management system submitted the lower limit as an amendment. After the discussion, the third amendment came out, but it was no different. The labor industry maintained a 6.1% increase, and the management industry brought up 15 won to 8,635 won in the amendment.

When the disagreement did not narrow, the labor and management all asked for a single proposal to the public interest committee. If the public interest committee comes up with a neutral proposal, we will discuss the level again from there.

At around 1 am, 9 public interest committee members, including Chairman Joon-sik Park, came up with an 8,720 won increase by 1.5% after discussion. As the basis for the calculation, the improvement of the cost of living for workers is 1% + the forecast for consumer price inflation this year is 0.4% + the forecast for economic growth this year is 0.1%.


All members of the Korean Trade Unions Association immediately reacted when the lowest rate of increase, 1.5%, came out. Even between the amendments narrowed down to 0.3% and 6.1%, it was very close to the user. Another problem was that the rate of increase was the lowest ever. The Korea Federation of Trade Unions resigned and resigned as a member of the committee, saying, "The Public Interest Commissioner showed responsibility and showed his partiality under the direction of the user committee." Vice-chairman of the Korea Trade Union, Kim Hyun-joong explained, "There was no 1% increase in the minimum wage even during the IMF foreign exchange crisis and the 2008 global financial crisis. I decided to leave because I could not accept about 1.5%."

In addition, Se-Hee Oh and Vice Chairman Kwon Soon-Jong of the Small Business Committee of the employer have also left. He was a member of the committee who had been strongly insisting on reducing the minimum wage, but was opposed to the 1.5% increase.


Now there are 9 public interest commissioners and 7 user commissioners. Discussions got faster. At about 2:10 in the morning, 3 strokes of the gavel ringed. A single public interest committee vote was voted on, and 8 out of 8,720 won was voted with 9 in favor of 16. It was an anonymous vote, but it is presumed that the 7 opposing members were members of the user.

Chairman Park Joon-sik said, “The regret was left, but the labor, management and public interest committee members tried their best to wisely overcome the great crisis that needs to be overcome in the country.” He also said, "In the long term, a decision has been made that is important for protecting jobs, labor markets, and economic actors and strengthening the sustainability of our economy." Kwon Soon-won, a public interest commissioner, said, "We decided that the effect of reducing labor market jobs that could be withdrawn when the minimum wage was higher than expected, and the negative impact on workers' livelihoods was much greater." The reason why the minimum wage increase for the next year was set low is that the burden of raising the minimum wage will lead to dismissal despite the management difficulties caused by Corona 19.

The Minimum Wage Committee, which started a full-scale discussion on the 11th of June, started the first full-scale meeting. This year, especially after the debate was repeated, both sides of the labor and management were unable to narrow their disagreements. As a result, the level set by the public interest committee was confirmed as both labor and management oppose.

Even considering the special situation of Corona 19, it is unfortunate that it is impossible to narrow the difference of close to 1,000 won for more than a month and then make a decision in an hour. What would it have been like during that period for workers, employers, and people to become more empathic, accept and prepare? If this is the case, I don't know how much better it would be to hold the 2nd power meeting at dawn on June 12th to determine the minimum wage. "If you're going to run this high-level, just let the government decide for yourself."