Korean business owners concerned about expanded union powers

The Environment and Labor Committee is in session at the National Assembly on Yeouido, Seoul, Dec. 1. Korea Times file

By Lee Kyung-min

Korea is expected to see growing labor influence, after a standing committee passed a bill that will allow expanded membership of a company union to include dismissed workers as well as those not employed by the firm. The bill also extends legal recognition for the Korea Teachers' and Education Workers' Union (KTU), a group of left-leaning educators outlawed in 2013 for including nine dismissed teachers in its membership.

The National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee passed a bill, Wednesday, revised after combining bills submitted by the government in June and ones proposed by ruling and opposition lawmakers.

Most of the government-pushed revisions were put through. In addition to the revision granting union membership to dismissed workers or non-employees, firms must also give a monthly paycheck to the union members whose job description only concerns union work and not company work.

Specifics outlined and finalized following a collective bargaining session participated in both by management and labor will be good for three years, a year longer than the current two years.

Most worrisome for business operators is the removal of a clause that bans union members on strike from occupying manufacturing facilities, which businesses say will threaten the stable operation of corporate production, which will in turn directly undermine profit.

“Conflict between management and labor will intensify, with corporate survival on the line,” said Choo Kwang-ho, economic policy team leader at Korea Economic Research Institute (KERI).

The revision will allow greater bargaining power to outside hard-liners whose only concern is about protecting the vested interests of union members, mostly using the threat and execution of strikes to halt company operations.

The revision is in line with International Labor Organization (ILO) recommendations and election pledges made by President Moon Jae-in whose voter base includes militant unionists.

Yet, upholding global standards is meaningless if deadlocks over existing problems have no immediate breakthrough, the KERI economist said.

Unions in many other advanced countries do not rationalize or justify indefinite strikes launched only to hike wages or bolster other benefits while company plants are occupied by some hardline members threatening violence.

“This shows no regard to the firm or the economy, a reason why the much-rushed passage of the revision is regretful. Arguing for global standards lacks standing since Korea falls far behind in other related global business and labor practices,” he said.

The government push for the revision could not be any more ill-timed, given the economy is reeling amid extreme financial strain, according to a coalition of groups representing employers including the Korea Enterprises Federation and Federation of Middle Market Enterprises of Korea.

“The businesses are already experiencing extreme difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The revision will push many of them to the brink of collapse,” the KEF said in a statement.

Labor groups said the bill failed to reflect many of their demands including limitations put on the role of union members who engage only in union work.

“Union representatives will be unable to voice concerns as freely because the bill restricted the scope of their activities,” the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions said in a statement.