Bill seeks to narrow employer definition, exclude bonuses from labor disputes, allow replacement workers
People Power Party lawmaker Lee Jin-suk announced Sunday that she has filed an amendment to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act — commonly known as the "yellow envelope law" — as her first bill, saying it is needed to address labor disputes between prime contractors and subcontractors that have intensified since the law took effect.
According to Lee's office, the amendment would narrow the scope of prime contractors' employer obligations, exclude management prerogatives such as performance bonuses from the scope of labor disputes, and allow the use of replacement workers during strikes.
"The yellow envelope law is not a law for workers — it ultimately threatens South Korea's industrial competitiveness and jobs," Lee said. "I judged it to be the first law that must be addressed to restore the balance of labor-management relations that has collapsed, reflecting voices from the field."
Lee said that since the yellow envelope law took effect, demands for direct bargaining with prime contractors have spread across industrial worksites. A recent case at SK hynix's Cheongju factory saw a union representing an in-house logistics subcontractor demand direct negotiations with the prime contractor over what it called discriminatory bonus payments.
"The situation where workers everywhere are demanding to 'bring out the real boss' and bargaining directly with prime contractors must not be allowed to repeat itself," Lee said. "If global companies have to be consumed by endless negotiations and strike risks instead of research and investment, they cannot survive the global competition for technological supremacy."
The amendment would limit a prime contractor's employer status with respect to subcontractors that operate under a legitimate outsourcing contract and maintain independent personnel and labor management authority. The intent is to clarify the boundaries of responsibility between prime contractors and subcontractors, improving legal stability and predictability.
The bill would also exclude matters within management's exclusive authority — such as performance bonuses — from the scope of labor disputes. "Performance bonuses are a compensation system tied to a company's investment, innovation and business results — they are not something to be decided through a strike," Lee said. "Bonus disputes at a prime contractor can become a spark that ignites a chain of conflicts spreading to all its subcontractors."
Lee noted that Samsung Electronics alone has some 20,000 domestic partner companies, warning that if bonus payments to prime contractor employees trigger bargaining demands and collective action by subcontractor unions, it could shake not just individual companies' labor relations but the nation's industrial competitiveness as a whole.
thanks@heraldcorp.com
