The South Korean government announced on Feb. 23 that trade unions that are not transparent in accounting would be excluded from subsidies and support projects and it would provide more support for new and alternative unions, including those led by young employees, non-regular workers, etc.
Early this month, the Ministry of Employment and Labor requested accounting data from 327 unions and related groups each with at least 1,000 members. Only 120 submitted their data in response. This low ratio is because the two highest unions, that is, Federation of Korean Trade Unions and Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, told them not to.
According to the ministry, in 2021, only 14.2 percent of employees were union members and most of them were large corporation employees. “This year’s labor group support budget is 4.4 billion won and half of the budget will go to those new and alternative groups,” it said.
The ministry also said that professional accountants would examine the appropriateness of subsidy spending and subsidies would have to be returned in case of inappropriateness. “Union executive education and training and international exchange are no longer subject to government subsidies and those will be covered by unions’ own budgets,” it said.
