Care workers press gov’t for direct bargaining under new law

Members of public-sector unions hold a rally near the National Assembly in Seoul, Tuesday, calling on the government to establish a formal labor-government bargaining framework for public‑sector workers. Yonhap

Care workers nationwide have launched a coordinated push to bring government ministries they call their “real employers” to the bargaining table, citing a new labor law that expands the legal definition of an employer.

They threatened to go on strike if their demands are not met.

During a press conference at the office of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), a powerful umbrella organization with more than 1 million members, the KCTU and affiliate unions said they have recently demanded that 57 ministries and public agencies hold talks with them as principal employers under the so-called “yellow envelope law” that came into force last week.

Union leaders said most care workers — including elder-care aides, child care staff, disability support workers and home-care helpers — are formally hired by outsourced private facilities but effectively governed by state-set fees and guidelines, and that more than 2 million workers nationwide fall under this category, according to KCTU estimates.

The government bodies they seek direct bargaining with include the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Ministry of Education and 37 local governments. If there is no meaningful progress by June, the workers said they plan to go on strike the following month.

Choi Jeong-woo, fourth from left, a senior official at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, speaks during a press conference in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

“The health, gender equality and education ministries have in effect been deciding working conditions for care workers, including wages and employment status, by setting guidelines for care and social-service workplaces, allocating budgets and issuing staff cost guidelines,” a KCTU official said. “Under the revised Trade Union and Labor Relations Act, they now have a legal obligation as de facto employers to respond to and engage in collective bargaining.”

For care workers for older adults, for example, the health ministry not only sets what share of funding can be spent on wages, but also dictates staffing and basic work rules, said Jeon Hyun-wook, secretary-general of a KCTU-affiliated care workers' union.

“Facilities are required to hire one care worker for every 2.1 elderly clients and one nurse for every 25 residents, and the ministry even specifies standards such as the number of paid days off for family events and paid sick leave,” he said. “The solution to the shortage of long-term care workers is actually simple. Fix their low pay and poor working conditions … With reimbursement rates fixed, there is little facility directors can do. In the end, only the government has the power to resolve this.”

Park Mi-jin, a care worker at Holt Children’s Services, a private nonprofit organization, also said key factors that actually determine working conditions for her and her colleagues are all decided outside the workplace — by government officials.

“The health ministry and local governments should come to the bargaining table this year. Those who set the standards must also take responsibility; those who control the budget must provide the answers,” she said.

So far, government departments and agencies have not responded to the unions’ requests beyond saying they are still reviewing whether they legally qualify as employers.

A representative of the health ministry told The Korea Times it was “still reviewing whether the ministry qualifies as an employer,” and said it had “not yet concluded that we are not an employer.”

Choi Moon-sun, a spokeswoman for the gender equality ministry, also said the ministry was “ready” to engage in dialogue, adding it began seeking legal advice on some specific issues.

The Ministry of Education said the revised law took effect March 10 and, as it has only just come into force, the definition of “employer status” remains unsettled and requires careful review in consultation with the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

“It is not a situation where we can say the unions are right or wrong at this stage,” an education ministry official told The Korea Times.

The official added that, separate from determining employer status, unions have raised a number of issues they want addressed and the government plans to actively communicate with labor groups on those concerns.

The labor ministry said the government, “as a model employer,” is committed to improving pay and conditions for public-sector workers and is working “in close, ongoing coordination” with other ministries to responsibly hear and discuss unions’ demands.

“The government will, in accordance with its guidance on the revised labor law, engage in good-faith bargaining wherever employer status is recognized, and even where the chances of such status being recognized are low, we plan to actively communicate with labor to discuss and pursue practical measures to improve working conditions and treatment in the public sector,” the ministry said in a statement.