Opposition Environment and Labor Committee Directly Refers Yellow Envelope Act to Plenary Session...Ruling Party "Will File Jurisdiction Dispute with Constitutional Court" (Summary)

Amid the Exit of People Power Party Lawmakers, Opposition Passes Bill Unilaterally
Heated Debate Over Judiciary Committee's Overreach in Systematic Review Authority

On the 24th, the National Assembly's Environment and Labor Committee decided to directly refer the Yellow Envelope Act (Labor Relations Act) to the plenary session solely by the opposition party. The ruling party announced that it would counter this move with a constitutional dispute claim, similar to the Broadcasting Act case.

During the full meeting of the Environment and Labor Committee, the agenda to directly refer the Yellow Envelope Act was unanimously approved by a secret ballot among members of the Democratic Party of Korea and the Justice Party, while members of the People Power Party had left the session.

The Yellow Envelope Act was passed solely by the opposition in the Environment and Labor Committee on February 21 and was referred to the Legislation and Judiciary Committee. The bill was scheduled for review on March 27 and entered the systematic and detailed examination phase, but the review has not been completed even after 90 days since its referral.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the National Assembly Act, if the Legislation and Judiciary Committee does not complete the review of a specific bill within 60 days, the relevant standing committee can refer it to the plenary session with the agreement of the party floor leaders or with the approval of three-fifths of the total members. The Environment and Labor Committee has 16 members in total, including 9 from the Democratic Party and 1 from the Justice Party.

With the bill undergoing the direct referral procedure to the plenary session, it is expected that it can be scheduled for discussion during the June extraordinary session. The National Assembly Act stipulates that if no agreement is reached after a 30-day deliberation period on the direct referral agenda, the decision on whether to refer the bill will be made by a vote at the first plenary session.

The Yellow Envelope Act includes provisions that allow entities who are not parties to the labor contract but have substantial and concrete control over the working conditions of workers?such as the primary contractor?to be considered employers, and it limits claims for damages related to labor disputes. The bill was proposed in the 21st National Assembly following the strike trial of subcontractor unions at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering. Last August, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering filed a damage claim worth 47 billion won against five executives of the subcontractor union.

People Power Party to File Constitutional Dispute Claim over Direct Referral of Yellow Envelope Act

On the day, controversy arose in the Environment and Labor Committee over whether the Yellow Envelope Act could be directly referred by the committee's resolution.

Article 86 of the National Assembly Act states that "if the Legislation and Judiciary Committee does not complete the review within the prescribed period without justifiable reason, the bill may be directly referred to the plenary session." Members of the Environment and Labor Committee from the People Power Party opposed this, saying, "Since the Yellow Envelope Act was scheduled in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on February 21, it has been reviewed twice, and since the committee is still reviewing it, the conditions for direct referral to the plenary session under the National Assembly Act do not apply at all." Im Eija, the People Power Party floor leader in the Environment and Labor Committee, cited responses from the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, pointing out that "the committee has expressed its intention to conduct a thorough review."

On the other hand, the opposition argued that the review has not been substantively conducted. Kim Youngjin, the Democratic Party floor leader in the Environment and Labor Committee, pointed out, "Although there was no in-depth discussion at the April plenary meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the Environment and Labor Committee gave them 30 days during the May extraordinary session to allow time for discussion, but the Legislation and Judiciary Committee neither discussed nor planned to discuss the Labor Union Act during the May session." Kim criticized, "The Legislation and Judiciary Committee is supposed to review the systematic and detailed aspects, but discussing the contents of the Yellow Envelope Act violates the committee's authority."

As Im left the meeting room during the vote on direct referral, she said, "I cannot accept putting this bill on the agenda," and added, "We will file a constitutional dispute claim with the Constitutional Court."

Jeon Hae-cheol: "The Yellow Envelope Act is insufficient but a conclusion must be reached... Further discussions should take place in the plenary session"

Jeon Hae-cheol, chairman of the Environment and Labor Committee (Democratic Party), spoke about the inevitability of direct referral while proposing additional discussions between the ruling and opposition parties. Chairman Jeon said, "The Yellow Envelope Act was drafted without a blank slate regarding the scope of employers or the extent of damages, and it aims to legislatively resolve how to interpret the current Supreme Court precedents." He mentioned, "According to Supreme Court precedents, there have been countless trial and error situations in the field as people interpreted these precedents differently, and the legislature did not provide solutions, leading to continuous conflicts between labor and management."

Chairman Jeon added, "Whether right or wrong, the legislature should have provided answers, but the government gave no response during the six months the bill was discussed. Although there are shortcomings and the opinions of the government and ruling party were not reflected, a conclusion had to be reached regarding the Supreme Court precedents." He said, "If this bill goes to the plenary session, there will be more time for debate." He emphasized, "Do not think that today's direct referral is the final step; it is the legislature's role to find solutions through discussions in the plenary session and elsewhere."

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