[Column] Minjunochong Needs a 'Decision to Break Up'

"I am worried it might look like labor unions are 'backstabbing' each other."

The Financial Services Union (Geumyung Nojo), under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), recently filed a lawsuit against the Bank of Korea union, which withdrew from the KCTU in July 2020, demanding payment of about 180 million won in unpaid union dues. The lawsuit claims that the withdrawal from the KCTU was invalid because it did not follow proper procedures. Since the Bank of Korea union officially left the KCTU two years ago and even received approval from the Ministry of Employment and Labor as a company-specific union, this could understandably cause frustration. However, internally, there was rather a sense of regret. A Bank of Korea union official said, "Recently, there has been no positive perception of unions from the public or the government, so I wanted to prevent unions from going as far as filing lawsuits against each other," trailing off with, "It's not a situation where we should be openly fighting..."

Last year, the KCTU also filed a similar lawsuit against the Financial Supervisory Service union, which had withdrawn. Moreover, recently, the KCTU stirred controversy by interfering with the Posco branch, which decided to withdraw with nearly 70% approval, including expelling the branch president. Perhaps due to the growing urgency caused by successive withdrawals, the KCTU, which expresses outrage over corporate lawsuits for damages related to their illegal protests and continuously demands the enactment of the "Yellow Envelope Act," is ironically very active in filing lawsuits against fellow unions.

Inside and outside the labor community, many believe that the Financial Services Union’s lawsuit is not genuinely aimed at preventing the Bank of Korea union’s withdrawal. Rather, since it seems unlikely that the Bank of Korea union will return, the lawsuit appears to be a warning example to deter further defections by other unions. According to legal advice, the Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that similar cases involving withdrawal from affiliated unions were lawful, so the KCTU is likely to lose the lawsuit.

Even if the KCTU forcibly maintains its power by blocking withdrawals, it cannot preserve the trust of workers and the public that it is losing. It is no coincidence that malicious comments against unions accumulate under online articles, the approval rating of the Yoon Suk-yeol government, which has launched a "union-bashing" campaign, rises, and affiliated unions continue to withdraw. It is known that the Bank of Korea union’s withdrawal from the Financial Services Union just four years after joining was largely due to internal burdens related to the Bank of Korea’s nature as a public institution, which was not considered when strengthening the characteristics of industrial unions and adopting a "struggle-oriented" approach.

Director Park Chan-wook, who made the film Decision to Leave, explained in a media interview about the meaning of the title: "It evokes the thought of making a decision but ultimately not being able to part, or parting with great pain." Similarly, it does not seem easy for the KCTU to suddenly break away from the violence and illegal practices it has maintained to preserve its influence. However, efforts toward self-purification that align with the changed public perception are necessary. Rather than holding back unions that left citing procedural flaws, it is more important to make a "decision to leave" the past bad habits first.

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