2024.07.16. The Fair Economy — The amendment to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union Act, which limits damages claims against striking workers, passed the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee's Labor Legislation Review Subcommittee.
The proposed amendment discussed that day includes: ▲removing the provision that excludes organizations from union status if they admit 'non-workers' ▲expanding the scope of labor disputes ▲calculating damage liability from union activities individually based on fault and contribution ▲and exempting guarantors from liability for damages.
It also expanded the definition of an employer to include those who 'substantially and specifically control or determine working conditions.' This means indirectly employed workers, such as dispatched laborers, can negotiate and dispute with their prime contractors.
The amendment had passed the plenary session of the 21st National Assembly but was scrapped after President Yoon Suk-yeol exercised his veto.
The Democratic Party of Korea, which had opposed the president's veto, adopted the bill as a party position at its parliamentary strategy meeting on the 11th.
Subsequently, on the 16th, the Democratic Party discussed the amendment to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union Act at the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee's Labor Legislation Review Subcommittee and the plenary session. In the subcommittee, ruling party members Kim Hyeong-dong and Woo Jae-jun of the People Power Party walked out before the vote, and the Democratic Party and the Progressive Party put the bill to a vote, submitting it to the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee's plenary session.
In the resumed plenary session, the ruling party requested referral to the Agenda Adjustment Committee. While opposition lawmakers criticized that the bill had already been sufficiently discussed and passed in the 21st National Assembly, including through the Agenda Adjustment Committee, it was referred to the committee.
Business groups expressed backlash and concern over the opposition's move.
The senior vice presidents of the six economic groups—Korea Enterprises Federation, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Korea International Trade Association, Federation of Korean Industries, Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, and Korea Federation of Mid-sized Enterprises—held an emergency meeting on the 16th to prepare countermeasures against the opposition's push to amend the Trade Union Act.
The senior vice presidents of the six economic groups expressed outrage, saying, "The Democratic Party, despite opposition from the business community, has adopted the Trade Union Act amendment as a party policy at the 11th National Assembly plenary session and, by a strategic judgment, is forcefully pushing the bill, thereby destroying labor-management relations and undermining the national economy."
They expressed concern that if the scope of employers is indiscriminately expanded as in the amendment, and subcontractor unions constantly demand collective bargaining and engage in disputes against prime contractors, the industrial ecosystem between prime and subcontractors would collapse, and workers at partner companies would lose their jobs.
Lee Dong-geun, senior vice president of the Korea Enterprises Federation, pointed out that while the vast majority of damages issues surrounding illegal dispute actions stem from the practice of violently occupying workplaces, the amendment contains no content to improve this and instead effectively blocks damages claims for illegal disputes, encouraging extreme illegal dispute actions.
Meanwhile, the six economic groups also decided to oppose the amendment to the Motor Vehicle Transportation Business Act, which primarily mandates the safety freight rate system, citing rising logistics costs for export-oriented small and medium enterprises.
Conversely, the two major labor federations, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, held a press conference in front of the National Assembly and argued, "The Trade Union Act amendment to Articles 2 and 3 must be passed in the July National Assembly session."
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