Korea struggles to decide minimum wage hike - 최저임금 인상?

Kim Ok-joo, 46, who works at a tollgate on a highway just outside Seoul for more than eight hours nearly every day, can not help but think her drudgery does not really pay off.

 

"It takes only two weeks to use up all my monthly wage," said Kim, a single mother raisingtwo teenage sons. "I often work for 16 hours a days, and even on weekends, by my wasge is never enough to feed my children." This year, Kim received 1.6million won ($1,400) per month as her wage was 6,000 won per hour, 120 won higher than the current hourly minimum wage. As her children have continued to grow, Kim says, her debts have as well. Executing the most mundane task of giving the children as allowance is becoming more of a feat each day.  

 

Kim is one of the estimated five million low-wage workers who have been pleading for drastichike in the minimum wage next year to receive "What they deserve" for their labor. According to government statistics, one in four workers in Korea is "working poor," suffering from in-work poverty, with two million of them being paid less than the minimum wage.

 

Business leaders and economists here view the minimum wage as an obstacle to economic recovery, while unionized workers see it as a key to economic growth. The Korean Employers Federation has argued that the minimum wage has risen too rapidly ans it needs to be stabilized, voicing concerns over possible job losses. on the other hand, the nation's largest trade unions - the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions - have maintained that the hike would tackle the nation's income inequality and spur consumer spending.

 

 

1) hike : 하이킹, 도보여행.  (~ in sth) : 가격, 경비 등의 대폭인상/급등 

           cf. The Labour union quickly pushed through a minimum wage hike last week.

2) drudgery [^|drʌdƷəri] : 힘들고 단조로운 일   cf. He is in the hurrying pressure of life's dull drudgery.

3) mundane task : 재미없는 일, 일상적인 일,   cf. Be willing to do mundane tasks with good grace.

4) feat : 위업, 개가 ; 뛰어난 솜씨/재주    cf. Passing that exam without studying was a real feat.