Opposition: "Yellow Envelope Act Passage Is Devastating... Ruling Party Exposed as KCTU's Servant"

"Youth Are the Biggest Victims of the Yellow Envelope Act"
"Jobs Will Decrease and Corporate Relocation Overseas Will Accelerate"

On August 24, the People Power Party described the passage of the Yellow Envelope Act (the amendment to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union Act) in the National Assembly plenary session as "devastating and heartbreaking."

Choi Eunseok, the chief spokesperson for the People Power Party, stated in a commentary that day, "The Yellow Envelope Act has finally passed the National Assembly," adding, "The desperate appeals of the business community, the public, and the opposition were ruthlessly trampled, and the government and the ruling party have openly revealed themselves as faithful servants of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' privileged labor unions."

In the plenary session that day, the National Assembly passed the Yellow Envelope Act with 183 votes in favor and 3 against out of 186 lawmakers present. The Democratic Party led the passage while People Power Party lawmakers abstained.

Yonhap News

The core of the Yellow Envelope Act is to broaden the definition of 'employer,' granting subcontracted workers and others the right to negotiate directly with the primary contractor. It also includes "business management decisions" as subjects of labor disputes.

Regarding this, Chief Spokesperson Choi expressed concern, saying, "If areas where companies should be free to pursue investment and innovation become targets of strikes and disputes, the spark for new challenges and startups will be extinguished, leaving only a stagnant economy. In the future, companies will spend more time preparing for strike schedules than envisioning their future."

He also pointed out that ambiguously expanding the scope of 'employer' is problematic, arguing that the healthy cooperative ecosystem built between primary contractors and partner companies has been instantly turned into a scene of confusion and conflict.

Choi further stated, "The greatest victims of the Yellow Envelope Act will be none other than young people and future generations. Youth employment will decline, the hollowing out of the manufacturing sector will accelerate, and the overseas relocation of companies will only speed up."

He continued, "What is even more astonishing is that the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' observers witnessed the moment the bill was passed, effectively giving their stamp of approval. The opposition party, which submits bills for verification by the KCTU, and the government and ruling party, which care only about the unions and not the people, have been laid bare."

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