The number of subcontractor union members demanding collective bargaining with parent companies approached 100,000 by the second day of the Yellow Envelope Law's implementation.
According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor on the 12th, 46 subcontractor unions, branches, and chapters representing 16,897 members filed bargaining demands with 27 parent companies on the 11th, the second day since the revised Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act took effect. Within two days of implementation, subcontractor union membership involved in bargaining demands grew to approximately 98,000.
Bargaining demands from subcontractor unions surged from the first day of the revised law's implementation. On the 10th, 407 subcontractor unions demanded negotiations with 221 parent company workplaces. As of the previous day, 453 subcontractor unions had filed bargaining demands with 248 parent companies.
Bargaining demands from subcontractor unions are expected to increase further. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions previously announced that approximately 140,000 members from about 900 subcontractor unions plan to request bargaining with parent companies.
Parent companies receiving bargaining demands are taking a wait-and-see approach rather than immediately entering negotiations. Only six parent companies have posted public notices of bargaining demands—a procedural step required to begin negotiations with subcontractor unions. This represents just one additional company since the first day's five. A Ministry of Employment and Labor official described the parent companies that posted bargaining notices as taking "the first step toward cooperative bargaining."
