Public sector unions are ramping up demands for collective bargaining with the government as the actual employer following the implementation of the Yellow Envelope Law.
According to the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and other labor groups on the 18th, since the law took effect on the 10th, 241 unit organizations from five industrial unions in the public sector have sent negotiation request letters to 118 primary employers.
These public unions are poised to escalate pressure, demanding joint bargaining with central government ministries while asserting that "the government is the real boss."
As subcontractor unions' bargaining demands that were anticipated before the law's implementation continue to mount, negotiation requests from public sector unions targeting the government are now flooding in.
The two major labor confederations, KCTU and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, held a "Resolution Rally for Public Sector Labor-Government Bargaining" the previous day, demanding that "the government establish a standing labor-government bargaining structure to guarantee workers' participation in public sector policy decisions."
KCTU Chairman Yang Kyung-soo notably stated, "A single word from the president put commuter buses on the chopping block," arguing that "if any employer had eliminated commuter buses or relocated a company to a provincial area without a word of consultation with workers, the government would have ruled it an unfair labor practice."
This remark targeted President Lee Jae-myung's comment at this year's New Year press conference that "public institutions have been relocated, yet chartered buses to Seoul are being provided. This negates the relocation effect."
The aftermath of the Yellow Envelope Law, which was pushed through unilaterally without supplementary measures, is now boomeranging back to the government.
The government, which is accelerating the second phase of public institution relocation to provincial areas, plans to finalize target institutions and regions within this year and begin relocation procedures in earnest next year. However, public unions are laying the groundwork for collective action against the government, citing the "substantial control" provision stipulated in the Yellow Envelope Law.
If the Yellow Envelope Law is left unaddressed, the aftermath may only worsen rather than fulfilling the law's original purpose of labor-management coexistence.
Private companies are scrambling to devise countermeasures to minimize damages from the law's implementation, but they may face double or triple burdens if coordination of differences between primary and subcontractor unions does not proceed smoothly.
Supplementary legislation and enforcement decree revisions must be expedited to eliminate the toxic provisions and ambiguities in the Yellow Envelope Law that could cause confusion not only at industrial sites but also in national governance.