Seoul mayor Park Won-soon met both of national trade union center chiefs, Kim Dong-man, president of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions(FKTU) and Han Sang-kyun, president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU) separately in the morning and afternoon on August 10 and explained them labor policies of Seoul metropolitan government and asked the cooperation of trade unions for their effective implementation.
In the morning meeting with Seoul mayor Park, FKTU president Kim welcomed that Seoul metropolitan government has adopted a policy concerning the introduction of workers' representation to the board of directors and also thanked Seoul city for having provided a plot of land which both FKTU and KCTU jointly requested to establish a monument to commemorate Korean laborers who had been forcibly conscripted by the Japanese imperial government during the World War II.
In the afternoon, Seoul mayor Park visited KCTU president Han who is currently behind bar because of his trade union activities. Mayor Park expressed his view that it is not fair to arrest unionists for organizing the rallies through which they want to express their opinions.
He also added that Korea should make a society that respects labor and basic labor rights. KCTU president Han suggested that 'model company' might be designated by Seoul city to the companies that comply with living wages and change precarious jobs to regularized decent ones.
Current pending issues like Seoul youth allowance and regularization of precarious jobs at the Seoul Metro and Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit(SMRT) were reportedly discussed during the meetings.