Company Labor Officer: "Unions Also Commit Unfair Labor Practices... The System Needs Revision"

Unified Voices of Attendees at the HR and Labor Management Meeting Hosted by KCCI

Human resources and labor managers of major companies argued that it is necessary to reform the system, including establishing a new category of "unfair labor practices by labor unions" to correct some wrongful practices of labor unions. The current issue is that unfair labor practices only target employers.

At the HR and labor executives meeting held by the Korea Employers Federation on the 12th, participants discussed these measures. Recently, the Ministry of Employment and Labor inspected the operation status of the working hours exemption system and found many workplaces with potential legal violations, such as exceeding limits or paying wages to unpaid exempted employees. The attendees pointed out that there are wrongful practices in the industry, such as giving special allowances to working hours exempted employees or excessively paying union operating expenses, and agreed on the need to improve these problems.

However, they saw limitations in correcting these practices due to the lack of regulations to punish such wrongdoings. Since these could be considered unfair labor practices by labor unions, they requested that the Korea Employers Federation actively participate in the process of changing the system, including revising related laws. Currently, under the Labor Union Act, unfair labor practices are recognized and prohibited when employers infringe on workers' collective action rights and other labor rights.

They also argued that the ongoing legislative discussions on the amendment of Articles 2 and 3 of the Labor Union Act in the National Assembly should be stopped. This amendment expands the scope of employers and labor disputes and includes provisions to limit excessive claims for damages. The executives attending the meeting pointed out, "The opposition party’s forced amendment of the Labor Union Act could shake the industrial ecosystem that forms the foundation of our economy and even threaten jobs for future generations." The Korea Employers Federation decided to convey to the National Assembly that the passage of the amendment would be unfair if it is submitted during the regular session.

On the 12th, Lee Dong-geun, Executive Vice President of the Korea Employers Federation (center in the photo), is speaking at the meeting of senior executives in charge of human resources and labor from major companies hosted by the Korea Employers Federation.

Regarding the bill pending in the National Assembly that prohibits inclusive wage and fixed overtime (extended work) contracts, they said, "There are necessary jobs and industries, and forcibly banning these is a big problem," adding, "As working hours recording and management become stricter, there are concerns about reduced income and increased labor-management conflicts over working hours management, causing confusion." Concerning the Serious Accident Punishment Act, they mentioned that there are still ambiguous parts and excessive punishments, requesting that the Korea Employers Federation take the lead in proposing legal amendments.

Lee Dong-geun, Vice Chairman of the Korea Employers Federation, said, "We will do our best to announce that government-led labor reform promotion is the top priority."

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