"Amendment to the Labor Union Act Should Be Legislated After Supplementing Employer's Right to Defense"

KCCI Recommends Supplementary Opinions to the National Assembly on the 14th
Prohibiting Dismissed and Unemployed Workers from Entering Workplaces

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Opinions have been raised that the government's amendment to the Labor Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act (Labor Union Act) is skewed towards strengthening labor rights, disrupting the balance between labor and management, and not aligning with the systems or practices of advanced countries, which could further intensify labor-management conflicts.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) stated this on the 14th in its "Economic Sector Opinions on the Labor Union Act Amendment Related to the ILO Convention" submitted to the National Assembly, adding, "Given the significant concerns, it is necessary to supplement the employer's right to defense."

Earlier, the government submitted the Labor Union Act amendment bill to the National Assembly in June to ratify the ILO Conventions on Freedom of Association (No. 87 and No. 98). The main contents of the amendment include allowing dismissed workers and unemployed persons to join enterprise-level unions, prohibiting strike actions that occupy only "production and major work facilities," deleting the provision banning salary payments to full-time union officials, and extending the validity period of collective agreements from 2 years to 3 years.

KCCI analyzed that while the government's amendment strengthens labor rights, it lacks sufficient employer defense rights and is disadvantageous to employers compared to advanced countries. Accordingly, it proposed supplementary opinions to fundamentally prohibit dismissed workers and unemployed persons from entering workplaces, ban all forms of workplace occupation strikes, maintain the current "working hours exemption system" framework when deleting the provision banning salary payments to full-time union officials, and demanded that the current regulation prohibiting "replacement labor during strikes" be deleted as in advanced countries.

KCCI argued that even if enterprise-level union membership for dismissed workers and unemployed persons is inevitably allowed, workplace entry should be fundamentally prohibited, and the amendment should be supplemented to allow exceptions only in limited areas under special circumstances.

The government's Labor Union Act amendment allows dismissed workers and unemployed persons to join enterprise-level unions while restricting qualifications for union delegates and executives, recognizes union activities within workplaces, and requires compliance with internal workplace rules or procedures agreed upon by labor and management.

KCCI pointed out that in South Korea's enterprise-level union system, allowing dismissed workers and unemployed persons to engage in union activities within workplaces as per the government proposal could lead to new disputes between labor and management. Both companies and the government strictly control access to prevent security breaches and leakage of confidential information, and thus, entry cannot be allowed solely on the basis of union membership for dismissed workers and unemployed persons.

KCCI demanded a complete ban on workplace occupation strikes. In advanced countries, workplace occupation is treated as an illegal act, but in South Korea, only occupation of production facilities and major work-related facilities has been prohibited, so workplace occupation has effectively become a customary practice. The government's current amendment also only prohibits "partial or full occupation of production and other major work-related facilities," which is no different from the current regulation and unlikely to improve the illegal workplace occupation practice.

KCCI presented a supplementary opinion, stating, "In major countries, strikes involve refusal to provide labor, but occupying the workplace to disrupt production is illegal," and that "all forms of workplace occupation strikes should be banned, and penalties for violations should be established to correct the wrongful practice."

Regarding the amendment deleting the provision banning salary payments to full-time union officials, KCCI pointed out that it should not be interpreted as allowing demands for salary payments to full-time union officials and that the current working hours exemption system framework should be maintained. The ILO has recommended abolishing the ban on salary payments to full-time union officials, and the government amendment deleted the related provision accordingly.

Additionally, KCCI expressed its position that the amendment transferring the Working Hours Exemption Deliberation Committee (Geunmyeonwi) from the Ministry of Employment and Labor to the Economic, Social and Labor Council (Gyeongsanowi) is inappropriate because the transfer does not fit the organizational nature and could lead to demands for expanding exemption limits.

KCCI also requested an amendment to the current regulation prohibiting replacement labor during strikes. Unlike major countries that do not prohibit replacement labor during strikes, South Korea is the only country that completely bans it. Therefore, KCCI proposed a supplementary opinion that some degree of replacement labor should be allowed to guarantee the employer's right to defense and balance power between labor and management during strikes.

Jaegeun Park, Head of the Industrial Research Department at KCCI, said, "The government's Labor Union Act amendment strengthens only labor rights to ratify the ILO convention, raising concerns about power imbalance in labor-management relations and intensifying conflicts in industrial sites," and added, "Balanced legislation should be enacted during the National Assembly discussions to ensure labor-management equality and labor market competitiveness."

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