(LEAD) Revised bill on minimum wage draws mixed reactions

(ATTN: ADDS Hyundai Motor's planned partial strike in paras 10-12)

SEOUL, May 25 (Yonhap) -- The passage of a bill that counts some regular bonuses and welfare allowances as minimum wage by a parliamentary committee early Friday drew mixed reactions from businesses and workers.

The bill endorsed by the parliamentary environment and labor committee will be put to a vote in the plenary session of the National Assembly in coming days.

The bill stipulates that bonuses exceeding 25 percent of the monthly minimum salary of 1.57 million won, along with welfare allowances exceeding 7 percent of a lowest set monthly pay, should be counted as being part of a person's minimum wage.

In the case of a worker who makes 1.57 million won a month, the bill means that his or her wage would effectively rise to 1.77 million won if the worker receives 500,000 won in bonus and 200,000 won in welfare allowances.

South Korea raised the minimum wage by 16.4 percent to 7,530 won on Jan. 1 this year, the biggest hike in nearly two decades, and plans to increase the wage to 10,000 won by 2020. This move has drawn fire from many businesses here for putting too much burden on their operations.

The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business said it respects the revised bill and said the bill could help narrow a wage gap between small firms and big businesses.

The Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise, which speaks for mostly mom-and-pop businesses, expressed general disappointment over the revised bill, saying it is not very helpful to smaller businesses.

The revised bill would have no effect on workers whose annual salaries are less than 24 million won, according to the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise.

On the other hand, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) threatened organized opposition to the bill's passage.

Following the guidelines of the KCTU, unionized workers at Hyundai Motor Co. said they plan to stage a two-hour strike at its plants in Ulsan, Jeonju and Asan on Monday to protest the minimum wage bill, a union spokesman said by phone.

The company balked at the union's planned partial strike which it calls illegal.

"It is illegal because the walkout is not directly related to the welfare benefits of Hyundai workers and the union didn't take the necessary steps to hold a strike at the plants," a company spokesman said.

Trade unionists claimed the bill is a step backwards in terms of the country's minimum wage policy because it undermines the effect of the pay hike.

entropy@yna.co.kr
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