Controversy Over the Legality of the KCTU’s Strike Resolution

Controversy is rising over the results of a vote called by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions which were in favor of a general strike against news legislative proposals on temporary employees as there are some indications that the vote results effectively turned down the strike proposal if seen under labor law.

“On October 25 to November 6, in a general vote for a total membership of 595,224 trade unionists, 305,838, or 51.3 percent of the membership, cast their ballots,” said the KCTU. “Among the ballots, 67.9 percent, or 207,661, were in favor of a general strike. The call for a general strike has passed.”

“We reached the resolution by building a general will of the membership through a democratic process which we could afford to handle,” said Lee Soo-ho, KCTU chair. “We will go on a strike as soon as the bill [on temporary employment] lands on the desks of the National Assembly committees [late this month or early next year],” he said

However, the labor ministry, commenting on the KCTU resolution, said, “It is a political stroke. The resolution takes issue with a legislative proposal on temporary employment, against which labor action is not allowed under labor law.” It added, “In terms of its procedure, the resolution was rejected in the vote. Under regulations, about 34.9 percent of the KCTU’s total membership voted in favor of it.”

“The vote defined in the labor law is about labor-management relations at individual workplaces,” said the KCTU. “It cannot be applicable to a national organization which takes on the government.” It went on, saying, “A majority of [the eligible members] cast their votes, and a majority of them supported the resolution.”

“Since the vote was about an illegal strike, it is meaningless to discuss about whether the resolution was endorsed legally or not,” said a person close to the tripartite commission of the government, business and labor, a loose government-sponsored talk shop for government, business and labor leaders.

“When the KCTU leadership called the vote, it stressed the importance of procedures by saying it would seek to find out the collective will of its membership,” said a labor expert on the condition of anonymity. “When it failed to win majority support, it stressed the legitimacy of the general strike. It is inappropriate for them to overlook legislative regulations.

Jong-Hoon Lee taylor55@donga.com