The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) held a general strike rally in downtown Seoul, demanding direct bargaining with prime contractors.
The KCTU held its July 15 general strike rally in front of Dongwha Duty Free in Seoul's Jongno district on the 15th. Despite sweltering weather with the feels-like temperature approaching 30 degrees Celsius, police unofficially estimated 5,000 participants, while organizers put the figure at around 10,000. Participants filling an approximately 300-meter stretch of Sejong-daero waved fans reading "Win Prime Contractor Bargaining" and "State Responsibility for Care," and repeatedly gulped down ice water.
At the rally, speakers continued to call for direct bargaining with prime contractors. Yang Kyeong-soo, president of the KCTU, argued, "Since the revised Trade Union Act took effect, countless subcontracted non-regular workers have demanded bargaining, but prime contractors remain focused only on evading responsibility." He stressed, "Where the labor minister should be running is not Samsung Electronics, but Homeplus, Woochang Connecta, Optical, and Sejong Hotel," adding, "The Lee Jae-myung administration must immediately scrap the enforcement decree and administrative guidelines that have become tools for evading prime contractor bargaining, and punish employers who refuse to come to the bargaining table."
Lee Young-hoon, chairman of the emergency response committee of the Korean General Workers' Union Federation, also pointed out, "Since the revision of the Trade Union Act, there have been bargaining demands to about 440 prime contractors, but only about 96 have had their employer status recognized." He added, "It grants only the right to bargain, while telling workers to resolve discrimination and inequality on their own."
Whenever a speech ended, participants chanted together, "We condemn the Lee Jae-myung administration for neutralizing prime contractor bargaining," "Punish vicious companies that refuse prime contractor bargaining," and "Bring out the real boss." Kang, a 52-year-old member of the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers' Union who came from Goheung, South Jeolla Province, raised his voice, saying, "The discrimination and disregard I feel on the ground as a non-regular worker remain unchanged," and "The law has changed, but prime contractors do not recognize us as equal workers."
There were also demands that the minimum wage be applied to platform workers and that their legal status be guaranteed. Hong Chang-eui, senior vice president of the Korean Federation of Service Workers' Unions, said, "The revision of the Trade Union Act proved that when it comes to recognizing worker status, what matters is not the contractual relationship but the actual employment relationship," adding, "A system that presumes worker status first when certain requirements are met should be introduced as soon as possible."
After concluding the main rally at around 4:15 p.m., participants marched to the front of the former presidential compound (Cheong Wa Dae). As traffic congestion arose across downtown, police worked to reroute vehicles and manage safety.
That afternoon, the Mart Workers' Union of the Service Workers' Federation staged a separate protest in Seoul in front of the former presidential compound. The Homeplus branch called on the government to prepare countermeasures after MBK Partners closed 67 Homeplus stores nationwide on the 13th. In front of the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office, the Seoul branch of the Korean Metal Workers' Union and a rally of call center workers were held, while in front of S-Oil's headquarters, the Plant Construction Workers' Union held its own rally. The Metal Workers' Union held general strike rallies in 11 regions nationwide, including Gyeonggi, South Gyeongsang, and Daegu.
The KCTU estimated that 100,000 people participated in rallies nationwide that day. It plans to continue its struggle in the second half of the year if prime contractors do not respond to bargaining. At the general strike rally that day, the Metal Workers' Union announced a second strike on August 26.
