Lee Jong-bae, a People Power Party lawmaker representing Chungju, North Chungcheong, in his fourth term, proposed an amendment to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act to allow applications for emergency adjustment to respond to illegal and dangerous industrial actions.
Lee said on the 9th that he sponsored a bill to partially amend the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act to provide employers with a swift response measure against illegal and dangerous industrial actions.
Under current law, during labor union industrial actions, employers are in principle prohibited from hiring new personnel or deploying outside replacement workers, and from outsourcing or subcontracting work halted by the action. Lee explained, "There has been criticism that employers' means of response are excessively restricted even when illegal acts that go beyond the scope of legitimate industrial action—such as violence and occupation—occur, or when serious risks arise to the public's life and bodily safety or to the safe operation of business sites."
Lee said the problem has worsened as disputes at industrial sites have become routine since the implementation of the yellow envelope law, a new labor law aimed at strengthening the bargaining rights of subcontract workers. From on Mar. 10, the implementation date of the yellow envelope law, to on Jun. 5, 431 prime contractors received bargaining demands from 1,137 subcontractor unions. As of on the 28th of last month, cases related to the yellow envelope law filed with the labor commission totaled 418.
In the amendment, Lee would allow employers, only during the period when the National Labor Relations Commission's conciliation and arbitration procedures proceed following an application for emergency adjustment, to hire new personnel or deploy outside replacement workers, and to outsource or subcontract the relevant work.
Lee said, "The right to strike must be fully guaranteed, but we must be able to respond swiftly when the public's life and safety are threatened," adding, "We sought to establish minimum safeguards to protect public safety and business sites."