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The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) voiced strong opposition to labor unions’ plans to shorten the nation’s legal work week.

The KCCI insisted in its statement ‘opinion on reduction of the legal working hours’ on May 22, “The average work week in 1999 was 47.9 hours. If the work week is reduced from the current 44 hours to 40 hours (through the elimination of work on Saturday), then average industrial wages will increase by almost 14.4 percent.” The KCCI added,“The increase in wages will prove to heavy a burden for many companies. A reduction of working hours should be the choice of the individual company, not a result of the law.”

A source from the KCCI said, “The actual working hours for medium and small-sized businesses with more than 100 and less than 300 employees was 49.9 hours per week in 1999, a figure larger than the industry average.” He went on to insist that, “If the working week is shortened, many medium and small-sized manufacturing companies will go bankrupt or lose business.”