Preschool Director Authorizing Teachers to Withdraw from Union Through Parents... Court Rules "Unfair Labor Practice"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] A court ruling has determined that even if a daycare center director expresses to parents the desire for a childcare teacher to withdraw from a labor union, it constitutes an unfair labor practice.

On the 26th, according to the legal community, the Seoul Administrative Court Administrative Division 12 (Chief Judge Hong Sunwook) ruled against Mr. A, a daycare center director in Gyeonggi Province, in a lawsuit he filed against the Central Labor Relations Commission seeking to cancel the retrial decision on unfair labor practice relief.

The court stated, "It is reasonable to consider that when the plaintiff conveys the employer's desire for employees to withdraw from the labor union through a third party, it can be evaluated as the employer's act, and thus constitutes an unfair labor practice of domination and intervention."

The court added, "The fact that no union members withdrew or suffered disadvantages due to the plaintiff's remarks does not affect the establishment of unfair labor practices of domination and intervention."

In August 2018, Mr. A confirmed that childcare teachers at the daycare center he operated were members of a labor union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and asked Mr. B, the parent operating committee chairperson, to help the childcare teachers withdraw from the union.

The labor union filed a relief application with the local labor relations commission, claiming "Mr. A's remarks constitute unfair labor practices," and the commission accepted it. When the Central Labor Relations Commission made the same judgment, Mr. A filed a lawsuit.

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