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Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions hold a press conference to launch a heatwave monitoring task force at Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on July 1 / KCTU

With the onset of the peak summer season, organized labor has mobilized a nationwide task force to monitor how workplaces handle extreme heat and ensure the safety of frontline workers.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) hosted a press conference at Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 1st, officially launching its heatwave monitoring task force and outlining its action plan.

Last year, the number of thermal illnesses across indoor and outdoor workplaces reached 1,790, while heat-related industrial disaster claims have consistently climbed, hitting 65 registered cases last year. Against this backdrop, the KCTU formed its own independent watchdog for the second consecutive year, arguing that existing government frameworks fail to adequately protect workers on the ground.

A total of 640 representatives from various industrial unions and regional chapters have joined the task force, which will remain active through September 30. Their primary mission is to inspect job sites and demand corrective actions to ensure that the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) and its enforcement regulations, revised last year to prevent heat-related injuries, are genuinely enforced. The group also plans to support workers in exercising their right to halt work during extreme heatwaves. Furthermore, they are calling for the full application of OSHA protections to special employment type workers and platform laborers, who currently fall outside the system's safety net.

The task force has established seven core principles to guide its workplace inspections: checking compliance and demanding improvements regarding heat prevention laws, guaranteeing the practical right to stop work, executing work stoppages at temperatures of 35 and 38 degrees Celsius, conducting collective inspections twice a month on designated Heatwave Prevention Inspection Days, taking joint action against non-compliant employers, launching immediate joint responses in the event of thermal illnesses or major industrial accidents, and demanding full OSHA coverage for special employment and platform workers. The group will demand immediate improvements whenever statutory violations are uncovered.

"As heat-related disasters continue to rise, the Ministry of Employment and Labor has rolled out heatwave counter-measures, but they lack teeth," the KCTU stated during the press conference. "The reality is that workers cannot freely exercise their legally guaranteed right to stop work out of fear of retaliation or unfavorable treatment from management. What real power can mere 'recommendations' hold when they lack any penal provisions? We have organized this monitoring task force to shield workers from catastrophic heat waves because the ministry's current measures are practically useless on the ground, and special employment and platform workers face blatant discrimination even under these flawed guidelines." The federation added, "We will fight to institutionalize workplace heatwave prevention through occupational safety and health committees and collective bargaining agreements. We intend to carry out tailored on-site campaigns tailored to specific industries and sectors to actively promote and secure the right to rest and the right to stop work under extreme conditions."

Lee Mi-seon, vice-chairperson of the KCTU, emphasized, "Starting today, the KCTU heatwave monitoring task force will rigorously inspect compliance with heat prevention laws across every region nationwide and spearhead battles through safety committees and collective agreements. To ensure the right to stop work is practically guaranteed, we will immediately invoke work stoppages when temperatures hit 35 and 38 degrees, while keeping a watchful eye on vulnerable job sites and employers who refuse to improve working conditions."

                                                                                                               Lee Ha-eun