Women gave lower average scores (38.1) than men (43.3), while those at workplaces with under 30 employees rated the policies at 40.5 points versus 47.5 for those at companies with over 300 workers. (Image credit: Kobiz Media/Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, May 6 (Korea Bizwire) – One in three South Korean workers rated the labor and employment policies of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s administration 20 points or below out of 100, according to a survey released on May 5 by a civic group.
The group, Gabjil 119, said its poll of 1,000 workers found Yoon’s labor policies averaged just 41.1 points out of 100. The most common score range was 20 points or lower, chosen by 35.2 percent of respondents.
The results showed declining satisfaction compared to the first quarter of 2023, when the average rating was 42.8 points and 27.3 percent gave scores under 20 points.
“For two consecutive years, the Yoon administration’s labor policies have effectively failed,” the group said, citing plans to increase working hours while leaving discrimination against small workplace employees intact. “It’s no surprise workers gave a failing grade.”
Women gave lower average scores (38.1) than men (43.3), while those at workplaces with under 30 employees rated the policies at 40.5 points versus 47.5 for those at companies with over 300 workers.
The group argued that improving scores would require policies like shorter working hours, banning “blanket wage” schemes that avoid overtime pay, and revising labor laws to assign bargaining responsibilities to primary contractors when dealing with subcontractors and temporary workers.
“The Yoon administration’s two-year labor policy can be summed up as ‘not doing what should be done while doing what should not be done,’” said Kwon Du-seob, a lawyer with the group. He criticized a lack of action to expand labor law coverage and enhance collective bargaining rights, while overriding labor-management autonomy.
The survey was conducted from February 2 to 13 for the group by Global Research, a polling firm. It had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.
Overall, the results indicated widespread working-class dissatisfaction with Yoon’s labor agenda nearly two years after he took office pledging to embrace a government role in mediating chronic tensions between corporate interests and organized labor.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
