Corea, República de - Massive strikes against labour law amendments

On 30 November 2020, over 80,000 metalworkers downed tools at hundreds of workplaces across Korea in a national warning strike against the government’s proposed labour law revisions, now in Parliament. They aimed to send a clear message to the government: no to the partial revisions of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Adjustment Act (TULRAA).
Proposed amendments include criminalising partial occupation of non-production facilities during a dispute, whereby peaceful picketing or walking through the workplace could be punishable with three years in prison, and creating more grounds for employers to bar union representatives from workplaces they represent if deemed to impair the “employer’s efficient business operations”; also, for any “rational reason,” employers can block union activities of non-employees, such as union safety officers.
Unions demand ratification of ILO Fundamental Conventions, arguing TULRAA can be upgraded with ILO technical assistance after ratification. They are calling for legislation of the “three CHUN, Tae-il laws,” which would broaden the definition of «worker” for precarious workers’ trade union rights; broaden the definition of»employer” from the current narrow enterprise-level focus so as to hold principal employers accountable for their unfair labour actions and enable supra-employer bargaining; and close the “exceptions” loopholes in order to enable application of minimum standards at companies with four workers or less.

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