[Insight] Unions vie for influence

The nation's two leading trade union umbrella organizations declared that they would keep pace with each other. On Nov. 26, vice president of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions¡¯ state-invested organization trade union league presided over a joint rally of the two federations. Later, he was severely rebuked for it.

He granted Dan Byung-Ho, president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), an opportunity to deliver a speech first. So Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) president Lee Nam-Soon's speech was damped and television news covered only Dan's speech. So the leadership of the FKTU blamed the vice chairman, asking whether he works for the KCTU.

As for the much-talked strike possibility of the Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) union, the two labor federations are competing fiercely with each other.

The KEPCO union, which has about 24,000 members, is an organization under the umbrella of the FKTU. Yet workers of KEPCO's six power stations are mostly young people, and they tend to favor the policy of the KCTU. Government officials say that three units could change their membership to the KCTU. So the FKTU is in a position to protect the membership of KEPCO.

Some members of the railway union, which is under the umbrella of the FKTU, were pressuring the FKTU that the workers would shift to the KCTU if it fails to prevent the projected manpower cut of engine drivers, according to a labor expert.

Prior to this, company medical insurance union and regional medical insurance union fought each other through the KCTU and the FKTU before they were integrated into one medical insurance union. It is widely considered as egoism of the two labor federations.

Also, it is a problem that the federations are utilizing strike threats as means of their own victory. Oh Kyung-Ho, president of the KEPCO union said that it would postpone the strike to protect the nation. In this connection, a labor expert criticized that they are posing a threat to go on strike and make people fearful about it.

"It is a problem that the government cannot accommodate the pains of workers,¡± he said. ¡°But the union's attitude to maintain its vested interests while hiding its wrongdoing by taking advantage of the government's fault."