Gwangju: The nation's two major umbrella labor unions on Monday strongly condemned the government's alleged move to relax the 52-hour workweek rule for a new semiconductor production cluster to be built in the southwestern city of Gwangju.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions issued a joint statement vowing to block the proposed special law that would exempt some white-collar workers in the Gwangju cluster from the 52-hour workweek rule and introduce other labor deregulation measures there. The labor unions have demanded a meeting with President Lee Jae Myung to discuss the issue.

The special law, reportedly disclosed by the labor ministry to some ruling party lawmakers last week, included a plan to exempt managers and researchers in the top 3 percent of income earners from the 52-hour workweek limit. Additionally, it proposed removing overtime, night, and holiday work allowances, instead offering fixed allowances.

The nation's 52-hour workweek law, introduced in 2018 to prevent overwork, mandates that overtime be limited to 12 hours a week, capping the total workweek at 52 hours. The joint statement from the labor unions labeled the easing of the 52-hour workweek as an anti-labor policy pursued by the previous Yoon Suk Yeol government. They expressed bewilderment and anger at seeing the same policy under the Lee Jae Myung administration.

The unions have called for a meeting with President Lee as a starting point for social dialogue on the issue. "If the government unilaterally pushes ahead with the special labor law, the Lee government and the labor community will head toward a confrontation that will be difficult to resolve," the statement warned.

Meanwhile, the labor ministry stated that it merely explained the various demands from the field and positions of different sectors, noting that the specific details of the special law have not yet been finalized.