South Korean Union Plans General Strike Over Contractor Negotiations

South Korea's largest labor group, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), has announced a general strike for July 15, escalating its campaign for "super-enterprise" bargaining. The union aims to compel primary contractors, referred to as "woncheong," to engage in direct negotiations, moving beyond traditional company-level agreements.

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We will bring the real employers, the primary contractors, to the negotiating table and establish a super-enterprise bargaining system at the industry and sector level, moving beyond company-specific bargaining.

KCTU reports that since the revised Trade Union Act, commonly known as the "Yellow Envelope Law," took effect in March, its affiliated unions have requested negotiations with over 400 primary contractors. However, KCTU claims that only four of these have entered into substantive discussions, with one of those already facing disputes. KCTU President Yang Kyung-soo criticized employers for refusing to acknowledge their responsibilities, despite rulings that recognize primary contractors as employers in many cases.

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Despite the law's revision, employers are still not acknowledging their responsibilities.

The union also directed criticism at the government and the Ministry of Employment and Labor, accusing them of facilitating the avoidance of primary contractor responsibility. Yang Kyung-soo questioned the government's stance, particularly regarding public institutions, and its commitment to fostering "super-enterprise" bargaining. The KCTU plans a major rally in Seoul, expecting around 10,000 participants, primarily from public sector roles such as caregiving and call centers.

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The government is also evading its responsibility by issuing interpretive guidelines that make it difficult to recognize public institutions as employers.

While the scale of the strike may be smaller than initially anticipated, with some businesses opting for negotiations rather than immediate industrial action, KCTU signals that this is just the beginning. The union anticipates further intensified struggles in the latter half of the year, focusing on the public sector. The Metal Workers' Union and the Plant Construction Union are also participating, with some engaging in partial strikes or using existing dispute rights to press their demands against primary contractors.

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The July 15 general strike is just the beginning... we will continue our struggle until super-enterprise bargaining is achieved.