Even Disqualified Unions Can Request Collective Bargaining... Ministry of Employment Announces Draft Enforcement Decree Removing 'Not a Union' Notification

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[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government has announced a draft amendment to the enforcement decree that deletes the provision for 'Notification of Not a Union,' which served as the basis for the Supreme Court's ruling last September regarding the National Teachers' Union being an unlawful union. From now on, the government will no longer be able to issue a 'Notification of Not a Union' to unions with disqualifying reasons. The business community is concerned that cases of unions with clear disqualifying reasons under the Labor Union Act demanding collective bargaining will surge, increasing social costs such as serial lawsuits.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced the draft amendment to the subordinate law on the 17th, ahead of the enforcement (July 6) of the Labor Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act (Labor Union Act), which passed the National Assembly on December 9 last year.

The key point is the deletion of the 'Notification of Not a Union' clause in Article 9, Paragraph 2 of the Enforcement Decree of the Labor Union Act. According to Article 2 of the Labor Union Act, a union already established is disqualified if it represents the employer's interests like a so-called 'company union,' includes non-workers as members, or mainly pursues political activities. When a union has such disqualifying reasons under the Labor Union Act causing the rejection of its establishment report, the administrative authority requests correction, and if not accepted, the authority has issued a 'Notification of Not a Union.' However, on September 3 last year, the Supreme Court ruled that the government's 2013 disposition notifying the National Teachers' Union as an unlawful union was unlawful, stating that the 'Notification of Not a Union' provision is regulated by the enforcement decree, not the Labor Law, and is therefore inappropriate, changing the situation.

An official from the Ministry of Employment and Labor explained, "This draft amendment to the enforcement decree is being implemented as a follow-up to the Labor Law amendment in December last year," adding, "Since the Supreme Court ruled last September that the 'Notification of Not a Union' based on the enforcement decree rather than the Labor Law is invalid, we deleted the problematic 'Notification of Not a Union' provision from the enforcement decree as addressed in that ruling."

Comparison table of new and old provisions related to the legislative notice of the Enforcement Decree of the Labor Union Act. Unlike the past provision that required notifying that a union is "not a union" if there were disqualifications under the Labor Union Act causing the establishment report to be rejected, the revised draft no longer contains this wording. (Source: Ministry of Employment and Labor)

A union that has received a 'Notification of Not a Union' cannot properly guarantee its rights to collective bargaining and agreements. In other words, from the employer's perspective, there is no obligation to enter into collective agreements with such unions. Since the 'Notification of Not a Union' provision has been deleted this time, unions with disqualifying reasons under the Labor Union Act now have greater grounds to demand collective agreements from employers. The business community has not hidden concerns about 'serial lawsuits' in response. A business representative said, "When the administrative authority issued a 'Notification of Not a Union,' employers naturally refused to negotiate, but now unions claim there are no disqualifying reasons, and employers counter this, leading to litigation," adding, "What could be resolved simply is turning into prolonged disputes and lawsuits, resulting in additional social costs."

The draft amendment to the enforcement decree did not include the business community's demand to specify restrictions on union activities within workplaces for non-working union members. Article 5 of the amended Labor Union Act states, "Union members who are non-working workers at the workplace may engage in union activities within the business or workplace to the extent that it does not interfere with the employer's efficient business operations." The business community requested that specific behavioral standards be established in the enforcement decree due to the ambiguity of this standard, but this was not reflected this time. An official from the Ministry of Employment and Labor explained, "We consider this a matter of interpretation of the Labor Law, not an issue for the enforcement decree amendment." The business community is expected to issue a statement regarding the lack of reflection of their demands even in the enforcement decree following the Ministry of Employment and Labor's announcement of the draft amendment on this day.

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