A major South Korean labor union will proceed to stage a large-scale strike this week against what it says is an anti-labor law revision, despite the government's heightened social distancing amid a resurgence of COVID-19.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU) said on Tuesday that it will carry out the nationwide one-day walkout Wednesday in protest of the law revision to ratify key International Labor Organization(ILO) conventions.
The conventions aim to improve workers' rights, but the group is against the proposed bill's clause that prohibits laborers from occupying key facilities at the workplace when staging a strike.
The umbrella union is also calling for the passage of three bills that apply labor laws to businesses with less than five employees, guarantee temporary workers their right to form a union and punish employers responsible for workplace disasters.
After the government urged the union to refrain from the strike for quarantine reasons, the KCTU said it will abide by relevant regulations. The planned general walkout will be the first organized by the KCTU this year.