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| ▲ This file photo taken in May 2022 shows a Labor Day march by members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in Seoul. (Yonhap) |
Labor Day-rallies
Labor groups to hold various Labor Day rallies in Seoul
SEOUL, May 1 (Yonhap) -- Various labor groups, including the nation's two major umbrella unions, are set to hold large-scale rallies throughout downtown Seoul on Monday to commemorate Labor Day.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the more militant of the two major umbrella unions, plans to organize a rally, named "world Labor Day convention" in the central district of Jongno at 2 p.m. and declare its plan to stage a general strike in July.
After the rally, KCTU members plan to march in three directions -- the presidential office in Yongsan, the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office in Jung-gu and the Constitutional Court in Jongno.
At the same time, about 50,000 members of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), the other major umbrella union, will gather in Yeouido to hold what it calls a national labor congress.
The FKTU is to call for efforts to deter labor reforms, raise the minimum wage, promote the transition to "labor-centered justice," and stop revisions of the Serious Disaster Punishment Act and the pension systems.
The Federation of Public Officials Union, which has complained that civil servants not covered by the Labor Standards Act are discriminated against by being forced to go to work normally even on Labor Day, is set to hold a rally in front of the National Assembly in Yeouido at 1 p.m.
The union has long demanded that civil servants be guaranteed a day off on Labor Day.
Workers of leading food delivery app Baedal Minjok, or Baemin, plan to hold a rally in front of the company's headquarters in southern Seoul around noon to mark Labor Day and demand a rise in their basic delivery fee, frozen for nine years, from 3,000 won (US$2.24) to 4,000 won.
The Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination, a disability rights advocacy group, is also set to hold a rally near Seoul City Hall at 2 p.m.
The National Police Agency said it expects about 140,000 people to attend the Labor Day rallies to be organized by the KCTU and FKTU in major urban centers across the country and will deploy about 170 police units to the scenes.
The police agency said it will actively support registered rallies and marches but will deal sternly with illegal behaviors.
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