Korean Air's pilots' union went on strike Thursday, and pay is the main issue. The union wants a 6.5 percent raise and the Korean Air wants to give them 2.5 percent. Both sides have responsibility to bear for failing to find a suitable and rational solution before it came to a strike. Korean Air accounts for half of the country's passenger and freight flights, so if the strike gets drawn out it could have a negative effect on the economy.
However, it is most regrettable that the government has asked for emergency arbitration on the very first day of a legal strike. It can only invoke its right to impose binding arbitration in strict circumstances, when a strike "considerably harms the national economy or endangers the daily lives of the people." That restriction exists because otherwise intervention could easily infringe on the "basic labor rights" guaranteed by the constitution. It shows you how such action must be taken prudently and in very exceptional circumstances when prior to the Participatory Government the government only intervened on two occasions.
The government seems to have forgotten its need to maintain a balanced role in fair mediation. It invoked its right to enact forced arbitration in the Asiana pilots' strike in August and is preparing to do so again. When an employer has reason to hope the government is going to get involved it no longer negotiates in good faith. The government needs to remember that the announcement it was going to intervene became an obstacle to last minute negotiations before the Asiana strike. The Participatory Government has called for "autonomy" and "participation" in various processes, but at this point you have to ask what its philosophy is. It will be worth waiting to see whether the Labor Ministry maintains its pledge to apply the arbitration in a way that does not hinder the ongoing negotiations.
There must not be any attempt to spin public opinion with talk about how much money the country is going to lose in terms of exports or pilots already have salaries of W100 million. Trying to put the other side in a bad position is not the attitude you need when you want to negotiate. Pilots, in turn, must not ignore the strike's influence on the economy and the inconveniences it means for the people. It needs to remember that many people consider it an "aristocratic union."
The Hankyoreh, 9 December 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection]
[Editorial] Let KAL Negotiations Take Their Course |
