On the 20th, the Korean Confederation of Democratic Trade Unions (KCTU) decided to accuse President Seok-Yeol Yoon and Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik, who are promoting the reform of the working hour system, for the so-called “crime of encouraging death from overwork.”
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions held a press conference at the training ground of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in Jung-gu, Seoul this morning and said, “We will accuse President Yoon of ‘preparatory and conspiracy to commit murder’ through promoting death from overwork, in accordance with Article 255 of the Criminal Act, and will work to stop the deterioration of working hours.” revealed
The controversial working hour reform plan of ’69 hours a week’ was defined as the ‘Act on Encouraging Death from Overwork,’ and announced an all-out response policy.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions criticized, “The reform of working hours promoted by the Yoon Seok-yeol government is to full-scale the flexibility of working hours requested by capital, destroying workers’ quality of life, undermining workers’ rights to health and life, and encouraging death from overwork.” .
“Recently, President Yoon speaks of ‘review’ and ‘supplementation’ of working hour deterioration, which has become difficult to promote due to criticism and resistance from the overwhelming majority of workers, and expresses his will to continue promoting the policy, but ‘total abolition’ is the answer.” he emphasized.
At the same time, he announced that he would strongly urge the scrapping of the working hour reform plan, starting with the ‘Confederation of Trade Unions Proclamation Rally’ on the 25th. Even following that, it was decided to raise the level of struggle by holding a resolution rally on April 19, a general rally of workers on May 1, and a warning strike at the end of May.
In particular, the KCTU plans to accuse President Yoon and the Minister of Employment and Labor of “promoting death from overwork.”
They clarified the justification for the accusation, saying, “Encouraging overtime work beyond the government’s self-set criteria for recognizing death from overwork (average of 64 hours in four weeks) is intentional murder.”
They plan to file charges once morest them, including violation of the duty to protect basic rights, violation of human dignity and values, and violation of the right to pursue happiness.
The KCTU is also planning to hold a large-scale press conference with the Korean Federation of Trade Unions (FKTU) on the 30th and conduct a public propaganda campaign urging the scrapping of the reform bill. The notice period for the amendment bill is until the 17th of the following month.
Yang Kyung-soo, chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, said, “The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions will continue its vigorous struggle to reduce working hours and improve the quality of life.”
[서울=뉴시스]
