Late-Night Funeral March and Drone Threats... Construction Association Urges Strict Crackdown on Union Illegal Activities

Photo by Asia Economy

The Korea Construction Association announced on the 28th that it has submitted a petition urging strict law enforcement against illegal activities by labor unions to the Presidential Office, the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Ministry of Justice, the Fair Trade Commission, the National Police Agency, and the policy committees of both major parties. A total of 8,672 general construction companies, accounting for three-quarters of all member companies, participated in the signing.

The association stated, "In a situation where survival rights are threatened due to internal and external adversities such as COVID-19, rising construction material prices, and insufficient construction costs, it has reached a point where it is no longer possible to operate in the construction industry due to various illegal activities by the construction labor union."

According to the association, the main types of illegal activities by the construction labor union include ▲forcing the use of their own union members and equipment and demanding union full-time fees, monthly fees, and express fees, and intentionally disrupting work if refused ▲holding rallies at construction site entrances, playing funeral music during late night and early morning hours, or causing noise complaints by using loudspeakers ▲flying drones over construction sites to find and report violations of safety and environmental laws as a form of intimidation against construction companies ▲coercing non-union workers who do not wish to join the union to join by using work assignments as bait.

The association's position is that "such illegal activities by the construction labor union interfere with normal site management, cause delays in construction schedules and deterioration of construction quality, and ultimately the damage inevitably falls on the public."

The association added, "The fundamental cause of the worsening illegal activities by the construction labor union to this extent is the deeply rooted misconception that illegal acts go unpunished due to the government's lukewarm response so far," and requested, "Going forward, we ask the government to establish a sound labor-management culture through strong crackdowns and strict law enforcement against these illegal activities by the construction labor union, creating an environment where construction companies can focus on their core roles such as building social infrastructure and housing construction."

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