Labor Day Revives 'Norangbongtu Law'... Opposition Hints at Direct Submission to Plenary Session

Democratic and Justice Parties "Stop Delaying the Legislation and Judiciary Committee"
Ruling Party's Yoon Jae-ok "Immediately Withdraw the Yellow Envelope Act"

On Labor Day, the political sphere once again brought up the 'Yellow Envelope Act (Amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Labor Union Act).' The Democratic Party and the Justice Party each held press conferences in the morning to pressure for the bill's passage.

The Democratic Party's internal organization, the National Committee for Protecting the People’s Livelihood, held a press conference on the 1st, emphasizing the need to pass the Yellow Envelope Act. The press conference was joined by the National Labor Committee’s Labor Respect Practice Group, the National Assembly Life and Safety Forum, and the Industrial Accident Prevention Task Force (TF).

They stated, "It has already been 70 days since the amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Labor Union Act, which passed the Environment and Labor Committee’s plenary session on February 21, were referred to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee," adding, "There are still people suffering in the labor field who are not guaranteed their rightful rights protected by the Constitution, and the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee delaying the bill’s passage under the pretext of ‘hearing opinions from related agencies’ is clearly a dereliction of duty."

Earlier, the ruling and opposition parties failed to narrow their differences over the direct referral of the amendment to the plenary session at the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee on the 25th of last month, postponing the discussion to the following month.

At the Environment and Labor Committee plenary meeting held at the National Assembly on the 25th, loud exchanges occurred between the ruling and opposition parties over the so-called Yellow Envelope Act. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

They continued, "After the Ssangyong Motor incident, many workers were driven to death due to an excessive 11 billion won claim lawsuit. It was eventually settled thanks to the court’s recommendation for reconciliation," and "In December last year, the court ruled to recognize subcontracted workers as regular employees."

They said, "Despite high criticism of excessive damage compensation lawsuits, last year, subcontracted workers at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering also faced a 47 billion won damage compensation lawsuit," adding, "Numerous workers suffer under unfair structures in the name of special employment and indirect employment."

They urged, "Since today is Labor Day, we strongly call on the Yoon Seok-yeol government and the People Power Party to proactively cooperate in amending the current Labor Union Act, which severely restricts workers’ constitutional rights," and demanded, "People Power Party members of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee and its chairman must immediately stop delaying the bill’s passage."

On the same day, the Justice Party also held a press conference in front of the Yongsan Presidential Office with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, urging the passage of the Yellow Envelope Act. Justice Party floor leader Lee Eun-ju said, "South Korea has the three labor rights enshrined in the Constitution and has ratified all ILO (International Labour Organization) fundamental conventions related to freedom of association, but it is only nominally an advanced labor country," adding, "The repeated seizure of hundreds of millions or tens of millions of won in damages during disputes threatens the basic right of freedom of association in a democratic country, and workers repeatedly resort to taking their own lives; we live in a labor backward country."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

She continued, "The Yellow Envelope Act, passed last time by the National Assembly’s Environment and Labor Committee, is the minimum measure to prevent such tragedies, promote peace in industrial sites, and protect workers’ right to unionize, which is a standard of civilized countries worldwide."

Floor leader Lee said, "The National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, chaired by the People Power Party, has been delaying the bill’s passage for over 60 days since its referral, and the Yoon Seok-yeol government even threatens to exercise a veto," adding, "The Yellow Envelope Act protects the freedom of association, a core freedom of our era." She criticized, "Rejecting this law is nothing but rejecting the freedom that President Yoon Seok-yeol so strongly emphasizes."

She hinted at the possibility of direct referral to the plenary session, stating, "The National Assembly Act has provisions to prevent the Legislation and Judiciary Committee from delaying review without reason," and "Now, the Environment and Labor Committee will use those provisions."

In response, the People Power Party opposed the bill and demanded its immediate withdrawal. Yoon Jae-ok, floor leader of the People Power Party, said at the party’s Supreme Council meeting in the morning, "The Democratic Party and the Justice Party should immediately withdraw bills like the Yellow Envelope Act that protect the vested interests of unions and burden our economy while only watching the giant labor unions," adding, "We ask the opposition to join forces for proper labor reform so that we can pass on a healthy and fair labor market to future generations."

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