'Winter fight' spurring tension in S. Korea

SEOUL: Wage and other labor negotiations usually take place in spring. So, winter is normally not a season for labor action. Yet, this doesn't seem to be the case this year. The nation's two major umbrella labor groups are threatening to stage general strikes next month, demanding job safety of employees at private and government-run companies.

The "winter fight," as labor activists and the media call it, is spurring tension not only in the industrial sector but also in the overall society. Frictions will certainly occur, and these will not help endeavors for the nation to overcome numerous difficulties it is now facing.

What makes the situation more complicated is the outburst of what is called "collective selfishness." Recently, the nation has witnessed a resurgence of the tendency to resort to group action, usually accompanied by violent means, in trying to advance interests of specific groups. Clashes that occurred between farmers and police Tuesday can be viewed in this context.

This surge of selfishness will undoubtedly hamper the Kim Dae- jung administration's efforts to implement reforms. Particular concern is placed on the corporate-and banking-sector restructuring, which the administration pledged to complete by early next year. The labor groups are indeed targeting the restructuring, asserting that it is being pushed unilaterally in disregard of employees' interests.

What's particularly worrisome is that this Kim government doesn't seem to have any effective means to resolve the labor turbulence. Law-enforcement authorities are pledging tough action against any illegal strikes. It is questionable whether the warning will make the determined labor activists docile and discard their plan to call for nationwide strikes.

For the present miserable state, the government has only itself to blame. It wavered too often in tackling issues of significance. Sometimes it employed a double standard in carrying out restructuring and handling businesses on the brink of insolvency. By employing different standards from company to company, economic officials have lost reliability in their policies. This lack of consistency has provided room for labor circles to challenge the government's reform policy.

The government has also squandered a precious opportunity to lay a firm groundwork for successfully completing economic reforms. In late 1999, President Kim prematurely declared that the nation had pulled itself out of the economic crisis. In retrospect, this was a grave mistake. By publicly announcing that the nation was out of the tunnel, the President only contributed to loosening a resolve by Koreans that they should endure the pain of economic reforms.

Developments since then have proven that the nation still has a long way to go before fully recovering its economic vitality. The situation is now so dire that some economists are even pointing to the possibility of the country slipping back into an economic morass.

The government also failed to show resoluteness and authority in coping with issues of national importance. The lack of decisiveness on the part of government officials has been well illustrated in its poor handling of the dispute over medical reform. Hopefully, the government has learned a lesson from past mistakes. Based on this, it should act urgently to contain the unfolding trouble, especially labor strikes.

First of all, it should exert efforts to have workers admit the inevitability of workforce cut that takes place in the course of corporate restructuring. Government officials must help employees understand that restructuring is necessary to save companies saddled with huge, onerous debts. Genuine negotiations can spring only from this understanding.

Moderation is urged for the unions. They may insist that laborers are not accountable for the sorry state of the debt- ridden companies. They may also express grievances that the government is only forcing employees to accept layoffs at a time when executives take little responsibility for managing the companies poorly.

These assertions may be understandable. However, the dismal conditions confronting the nation and near-insolvent businesses render such an argument mute. The unions must accept the grim reality and try to find ways to minimize the fallout of restructuring. Needless to say, the government should pay heed to the grievances expressed by laborers.

Efforts to share the pain of restructuring are vital. If all the parties concerned realize this, problems may be resolved easier.

-- The Korea Herald/Asia News Network