Supreme Court Grand Bench Rules "Notification of KTU as an Illegal Union Unlawful"... Original Judgment Overturned and Remanded (2nd Report)

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Supreme Court has ruled that the notification of the National Teachers' Union (JeonGyoJo) as an illegal union was unlawful.

The Supreme Court en banc on the 3rd overturned the lower court ruling that dismissed JeonGyoJo's appeal against the Ministry of Employment and Labor's notification of illegal union status and remanded the case to the Seoul High Court.

On the same day at 2 p.m., the Supreme Court en banc held a special session in the grand courtroom to deliver the verdict on JeonGyoJo's appeal lawsuit requesting the cancellation of the illegal union notification issued by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. The key issue was the provision in the Teachers' Union Act stating that "a labor union shall not be recognized if it allows membership of persons who are not teachers" and the enforcement decree of the Labor Union Act regulating the illegal union notification. In the first and second trials, the courts accepted this and ruled against JeonGyoJo.

The Supreme Court stated, "The illegal union notification not only removes protection under the Labor Union Act but also substantially restricts the constitutional labor rights. However, the Labor Union Act does not have any related provisions, nor does it delegate authority to the enforcement decree. Therefore, the enforcement decree provision regulating the illegal union notification (applied mutatis mutandis from the Teachers' Union Act) is invalid as it violates the constitutional principle of legal reservation."

It added, "We overturn and remand the lower court ruling that deemed the illegal union notification lawful based on the validity of the enforcement decree provision in this case."

In principle, the effect of the government's illegal union notification will not disappear until the remand trial is concluded in accordance with the Supreme Court's ruling. However, if the injunction to suspend the effect of the illegal union notification filed by JeonGyoJo is accepted in the Supreme Court's 3rd Division trial on the same day, JeonGyoJo can immediately regain its status as a legal union.

An illegal union cannot exercise various rights guaranteed to unions by the Constitution and laws. Representative examples include filing unfair labor practice relief applications, collective bargaining, and concluding collective agreements. Some teachers who worked as full-time union officials must return to their schools, and JeonGyoJo cannot collect union activity fees from teachers' wages. Additionally, the suspension of rental deposits for union offices and other support funds continues.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.