The Korea Railroad Workers' Union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) argued that the government's deployment of military personnel as replacement workers during its 2019 strike was unconstitutional and filed a constitutional complaint, but the Constitutional Court ruled it constitutional.
On the 29th, the court dismissed the constitutional complaint filed over the acts of the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Minister of National Defense providing military personnel so that Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) could deploy replacement workers during the union's strike, with a 6 (dismiss) to 3 (uphold) decision.
Earlier, the union went on strike twice, from Oct. 11 to 14 and Nov. 20 to 24, 2019, demanding more safety personnel, integration of the KTX and SRT high-speed railways, shorter working hours, and "normalization" of total labor costs.
To reduce inconvenience for rail users, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport deployed available replacement personnel, including KORAIL employees and military personnel, to commuter metropolitan trains and KTX to maintain the maximum number of train operations. In response to the request of the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the Minister of National Defense supported the dispatch of military personnel as locomotive engineers, conductors, and controllers.
The union claimed that the Ministers of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and National Defense infringed on its right to collective action by supporting military personnel as replacement workers at KORAIL, and filed a constitutional complaint in Dec. 2019.
Justices Kim Hyeong-du, Jeong Jeong-mi, and Jeong Gye-seon said the union filed a constitutional complaint immediately without bringing an administrative suit challenging the legality of the decision to deploy military personnel, and offered the view to dismiss, saying the complaint failed to meet the requirements.
Justices Jeong Hyeong-sik, Kim Bok-hyeong, and Cho Han-chang found that the support of military personnel by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Ministry of National Defense was an exercise of public authority carried out in specific circumstances and was unlikely to be repeated, and held that the union failed to meet the requirements to bring a constitutional complaint.
By contrast, Justices Kim Sang-hwan, Ma Eun-hyeok, and Oh Young-jun viewed that the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, the Railway Industry Act, and the Framework Act on the Management of Disasters and Safety, cited by the ministries as grounds for deploying military personnel as replacement workers, "cannot be considered a legal basis for the support." They added, "The support acts (of military personnel) infringe on the union's right to collective action," and issued an opinion to uphold.