The Advisory Panel of the Tripartite Commission Discusses Allowing Replacement Work During Strikes and Restricting Workplace Occupations

KCTU Criticizes "Exclusion of Labor and Management Groups"

On the afternoon of the 8th, the first meeting of the Advisory Group for Improving Labor-Management Relations Systems and Practices was held at the Economic, Social and Labor Council in Jongno-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The Economic, Social and Labor Council (ESLC), a tripartite social dialogue body directly under the President, launched the "Advisory Group for the Improvement of Labor-Management Relations Systems and Practices" on the 8th at the ESLC main conference room in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

The advisory group's agenda includes five key topics: union establishment and collective bargaining, democratic operation of unions, establishment of a fair labor-management relations order, improvement of power imbalance in labor-management relations, win-win cooperation between primary and subcontractors, and solidarity measures for non-regular and unorganized workers.

In particular, as a measure to improve the power imbalance in labor-management relations, the group will discuss allowing replacement labor during strikes, which involves deploying other workers in place of striking workers, and improving laws and systems to restrict workplace occupation during strikes. The group is also expected to debate whether to abolish the criminal punishment system for unfair labor practices, which has been criticized for intimidating employers.

The advisory group plans to announce its results within the first half of the year after about five months of discussions. The Ministry of Employment and Labor is known to be preparing legislative bills to improve labor-management relations based on the advisory group's discussions.

The labor sector protested, claiming that labor and management were excluded from the advisory group. The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) stated in a commentary on the same day, "The ESLC, upon launching the advisory group, forgot its original function as a social dialogue body and did not even go through a procedure to collect opinions from labor and management organizations," adding, "It overlaps with the Future Labor Market Research Association, which served as a complaint reception window for the business community."