'Big May Day events in Asia call for better labour conditions'; 1 May 2023

A large number of workers and activists in Asian countries are set to mark May Day on Monday with protests calling for higher salaries and better working conditions, among other demands...

In South Korea, more than 100,000 people planned to attend various rallies across the country in its biggest May Day gatherings since the pandemic began in early 2020, according to organisers...

The two main rallies in Seoul, the South Korean capital, were expected to draw about 30,000 people each...according to the organisers: the Korean Confederation of Trade Union and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions...

Rally participants will call for an increase in minimum wages, repeat their demands not to ease corporate punishment for industrial accidents, and protest what they call the government’s anti-labor policies. Their trade unions accuse the government of clamping down on some labor unions in the name of reforming their alleged irregularities.

The conservative government led by President Yoon Suk Yeol has been pushing for a set of labour reform steps. It's called for more transparent accounting records of labour unions and an end of what it calls illegal acts like unions pressing firms to hire union members and some workers coercing kickback-like payments from companies.

Han Sang-jin, a spokesperson at the Korean Confederation of Trade Union, said his union members plan to stage a large-scale strike in July if their demands over labor issues aren’t met by then...

Workers in Indonesia marked the international labour day Monday with rallies in major cities across Southeast Asia’s largest economy. About 50,000 workers were expected to take part in traditional May Day marches in the capital, Jakarta, according to the Confederation of Indonesian Trade Unions, which represents 32 labour unions...

Thousands still angry at the new Job Creation Law gathered near the National Monument...with demands....The Job Creation Law amended more than 70 previous laws and was intended to improve bureaucratic efficiency as part of efforts by President Joko Widodo’s administration to attract more investment to the country. But critics remain unhappy, saying it will still benefit business at the expense of workers and the environment.

“Job Creation Law must be repealed for the sake of working situation improvement,” said protester Sri Ajeng. “It’s only oriented to benefit employers, not workers.”...

In Japan, May Day celebrations in Tokyo and elsewhere were held over the weekend without any pandemic-related restrictions for the first time in four years...

Union leaders said government measures for salary increases are insufficient to catch up with rising prices, and workers’ real wages have continued to decline. They criticised Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s plan to double the defence budget, which requires tax increases in coming years, and said the money should be spent on welfare and social security and improve the people’s daily lives.