This article was published on Feb. 17, 2025, at 10:42 a.m. on the ChosunBiz RM Report site.
The court ruled that the Central Labor Relations Commission's decision to divide the union of Hyundai Elevator, the country's largest elevator corporation, into technical and clerical divisions was lawful.
According to the legal community on the 17th, the Seoul Administrative Court's Administrative Division 12 (presiding judge Director General Kang Jae-won) ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a case filed by Hyundai Elevator against the Central Labor Relations Commission to cancel the decision on separating the bargaining unit, stating that the plaintiff lost in November last year. The separation of the bargaining unit means that the union can negotiate separately with the management regarding wages and other working conditions. This ruling was finalized in December last year as neither side appealed.
Hyundai Elevator had a union with about 1,500 members out of the existing 2,700 workers. However, 330 clerical workers established a separate clerical union in 2020 and requested the separation of the bargaining unit to the Chungbuk Regional Labor Relations Commission in May 2023, stating, "Clerical and technical workers differ in wage systems, job content, and other working conditions and employment types." Following the acceptance of the clerical union's claims by the Chungnam Regional Labor Relations Commission and the Central Labor Relations Commission, Hyundai Elevator filed a lawsuit in September 2023, requesting the cancellation of this decision.
Hyundai Elevator claimed, "The separation of the bargaining unit under the Labor Union Act is very exceptionally allowed, and the employment types for clerical and technical workers are the same, with the requirements and qualifications for promotions being identical," and noted that "there is not a significant difference that would warrant a separation of the bargaining unit merely due to differences in evaluation systems."
The court acknowledged the necessity for the separation of the clerical and technical unions. It determined that while Hyundai Elevator had established standards for treating workers through collective agreements for the technical union, the clerical sector exhibited differences in working conditions, including a simplified job hierarchy, performance-based compensation systems, and differentiated performance-based annual salary systems.
The tribunal stated, "Clerical and technical workers have different standards for bonuses and allowances, and there are significant differences in employment types, such as hiring methods and qualifications." It continued, "Considering the circumstances of the clerical workers without unifying the bargaining channels (with the technical union) would make it difficult to accurately reflect the interests of the clerical workers," and emphasized, "The decision to separate the bargaining unit is lawful."