[2022 National Audit] “Illegal Strike Infringes Private Property” VS “Cannot Afford Astronomical Amount” Environment and Labor Committee ‘Yellow Envelope Act’ Dispute

Lee Jeong-sik "Cannot Escape Illegal Responsibility... Partial Amendment of Labor Union Act Won't Solve"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] On the 5th, the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee engaged in a heated debate over the 'Yellow Envelope Act' during the Ministry of Employment and Labor's audit.

The Yellow Envelope Act is an amendment to the Labor Union Act that limits companies' claims for damages against striking workers. The Democratic Party, allied with the Justice Party, has listed the Yellow Envelope Act as one of the seven major legislative tasks for this regular session of the National Assembly.

Jisung-ho, a member of the People Power Party, opened fire by criticizing the Yellow Envelope Act. He said, "This year, illegal strikes occurred at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering and Hite Jinro, causing enormous economic losses during such illegal strikes," adding, "Lawsuits for damages are necessary to protect constitutional private property."

Im E-ja, also from the same party, emphasized, "Among 20 million wage workers, union members number at most 2.2 to 2.3 million, and the Yellow Envelope Act is a policy for these people," stressing, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration should implement policies for outsiders, not insiders."

The Democratic Party raised the level of criticism in response. Jin Sung-jun, a Democratic Party lawmaker, said, "Can labor unions or workers bear such astronomical amounts?" and added, "There is an urgent need to reach a broad social consensus to address issues related to damage lawsuits and provisional seizures."

He continued, "If the Constitution, Civil Code, and Criminal Code are general laws, the Labor Union Act is a special law, so conflicts between laws can be complicated," and urged, "Since a social atmosphere for discussion is forming, the Ministry of Employment and Labor should take the lead."

No Woong-rae, a Democratic Party lawmaker, said, "The Yellow Envelope Act aims to protect workers' lives by preventing the abuse of damage lawsuits," and raised his voice, "In the case of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, subcontracted workers were not even allowed to request negotiations with the primary contractor. To fundamentally solve the problem, the scope of employer responsibility must be expanded."

Woo Won-shik also supported, saying, "Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering says to subcontracted workers, 'You are not our employees, so we won't meet you,'" and added, "Hong Gil-dong said he could not call his father 'father' and sought to transform the world. I think the Yellow Envelope Act is the Hong Gil-dong Act."

Labor Minister Lee Jung-sik responded to lawmakers asking about the Yellow Envelope Act, saying, "Anyone responsible for illegal acts cannot escape responsibility," and "I do not believe that partially amending the Labor Union Act will resolve the issue."

Earlier, Minister Lee had expressed a de facto opposition stance, stating that the Yellow Envelope Act is controversial in terms of constitutionality and may encourage illegal strikes by labor unions, thus requiring careful review.

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