The head of one of the nation’s major umbrella unions pledged to bring improved wages and labor rights as well as public health care and child care issues front and center ahead of April’s general elections.

At a new year's meeting with local media outlets on Tuesday, Yang Kyung-soo, chief of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU), criticized the Yoon Suk Yeol administration and political parties for neglecting public livelihoods in favor of their own interests.

The KCTU plans to announce its demands to the administration and political parties next month, before staging a rally calling for judgment on the administration on February 24.

Following the April 10 elections, the KCTU will hold a rally marking Labor Day on May 1 followed by a nationwide rally demanding wage hikes for all laborers on June 22 and another rally on social reform on September 28.

There was no large-scale general strike included in the yearly plan, with the umbrella chief saying it reflects the labor group's change of attitude and policy shift in its continuing fight for labor rights.

Asked about the KCTU's participation in a tripartite dialogue involving labor, management and the government, Yang said trust between labor and management should be established first.