"Balance of Power Between Labor and Management Broken by Revised Labor Union Act... Urgent Need for Supplementary Legislation"

"Allowing Replacement Labor During Strikes, Deleting Criminal Penalties for Unfair Labor Practices, and Other Necessary Amendments"
Korea Employers Federation Publishes 'Checklist of Key Amendments to the Labor Union Act'

Son Kyung-sik, Chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, is delivering the opening address at the symposium "Anti-Business Sentiment in Korea: Diagnosis of Causes and Improvement Measures" held at the Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 1st. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] As labor-management conflicts due to the amendment of the Labor Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act (Labor Union Act) inevitably cause confusion in industrial sites, there are claims that supplementary legislation is needed, such as deleting penal provisions on unfair labor practices and allowing substitute labor during strikes.

The Korea Employers Federation (KEF) held a forum titled "Problems of the Amended Labor Union Act and Directions for Supplementary Legislation" on the afternoon of the 8th at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. At the forum, Professor Kim Hee-seong of Kangwon National University Law School presented the keynote speech, and discussions were held by Lee Won-duk, former president of the Korea Labor Institute, Professor Lee Sang-hee of Korea University of Technology and Education, Professor Song Kang-jik of Dong-A University Law School, and Kim Kwang-heon, CEO of Mando.

Before the discussion, KEF Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik stated, "In a situation where combative and uncompromising labor movement practices based on the labor sector's power dominance are widespread, allowing dismissed workers and the unemployed to join unions under the amended Labor Union Act raises serious concerns about increased confusion and conflicts in labor-management relations at the workplace," emphasizing, "It is necessary to improve the systems, which were extremely unfavorable to employers and created to protect unions when their position was weak in the past, to a level similar to major advanced countries."

At the forum, Professor Kim Hee-seong, who delivered the keynote speech, acknowledged the necessity of amending the Labor Union Act to ratify the International Labour Organization (ILO) core conventions but anticipated considerable side effects. He stressed the need to improve the prohibition on substitute labor, delete penal provisions, and interpret the Labor Union Act reasonably.

Professor Kim said, "South Korea broadly restricts substitute labor during strikes, which is an unusually strong measure compared to countries like the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Germany, and may violate the constitutional principle of proportionality. The unfair labor practice system also imposes excessive criminal penalties beyond the ultimate goal of restoration, constituting overregulation and undermining substantive equality between labor and management. Therefore, direct criminal penalties for unfair labor practices should be abolished."

Meanwhile, KEF published a "Checklist of Key Contents of the Amended Labor Union Act" to minimize confusion in industrial sites caused by the amendment. The checklist includes ▲the need to establish regulations restricting access to in-house security and production facilities for dismissed and unemployed persons and appoint management officers ▲the need to distinguish between active and inactive union members to grasp union size ▲refusal of excessive salary demands for working hour exemption personnel. Based on this, KEF plans to hold an explanatory session on the amended Labor Union Act on the 18th.

A KEF official stated, "We will respond to reduce unnecessary disputes that may arise in industrial sites due to the enforcement of the amended Labor Union Act and establish stable labor-management relations, while continuously proposing supplementary legislation to the government and the National Assembly to minimize the side effects of the amended Labor Union Act."

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