On the 18th, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions said, "Wage arrears are based on multi-tier subcontracting and a low-wage structure," adding, "Amending Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union Act could be an important stepping stone to solving the problem." The point is that under the amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union Act, commonly called the "Yellow Envelope Act," subcontracted workers would be able to demand bargaining with the prime contractor.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions issued a statement on wage arrears that day and said as much.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions said, "The amount of wage arrears that occurred through July this year is 1.3421 trillion won," adding, "As many as 173,000 workers have been affected, and hundreds of thousands of workers every year are not receiving fair pay." According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, last year's wage arrears amounted to 2.0448 trillion won. It surpassed 2 trillion won for the first time on an annual basis and is also the highest amount on record.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions cited manufacturing and construction as the industries where wage arrears occur frequently.
It went on to argue, "The two industries are commonly based on multi-layered subcontracting and a low-wage structure, and in the process of the prime contractor slashing unit prices and passing along the expense, the final burden falls on subcontracted workers."
Accordingly, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions said, "The amendment to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union Act, passed by the National Assembly for the first time in about 20 years, legally codified the prime contractor's employer responsibility," adding, "This amendment, which requires the prime contractor to have a duty to bargain with subcontracted workers, could also be an important stepping stone to solving the problem of unpaid wages."
Meanwhile, the government plans to implement the amendments to Articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union Act starting Mar. 10 next year. The core is strengthening the prime contractor's employer responsibility and limiting claims for damages against unions. It would allow subcontractor unions with no direct contractual relationship to demand bargaining with the prime contractor and would limit corporations that suffered losses due to a union strike from filing damage claims against the union.