On the 10th, participants at a rally organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) on Sejong-daero in Jongno-gu, Seoul, chanted slogans. [Newsis]
[Herald Economy = Reporter Lee Myung-soo] Care workers, such as nursing assistants and child carers, are demanding formal negotiations with government ministry heads, arguing that since the government is the entity deciding the rates, the ministers are effectively the “real bosses.”
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) announced on the morning of the 17th that it held a press conference entitled ‘Come Out, Real Boss of Care Workers’ at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. They stated that official negotiation requests were sent to 57 primary employers, including ministers of Health and Welfare, Gender Equality and Family, and Education.
This negotiation demand follows the so-called “Yellow Envelope Act” (amended Trade Union Act), which came into effect on the 10th. The amended law allows for negotiations with subcontract workers if primary employers are recognized as having employer characteristics, even if they do not have a direct employment contract.
The KCTU plans to push for joint collective bargaining against the government by grouping care-related workers, such as nursing assistants, disability support workers, social workers and facility staff, senior lifestyle supporters, senior job managers, child carers, babysitters, and nursery teachers.
During the conference, care workers argued that since the government determines wage levels and personnel structures through rates, it has sufficient employer characteristics.
The KCTU emphasized, “The Ministries of Health and Welfare, Gender Equality, and Education have effectively determined key working conditions for care workers through the establishment of guidelines, budget allocations, and labor cost guidelines,” and “In accordance with the amended trade union law, they have a legal obligation to respond to collective bargaining as substantial employers.”
Jeon Hyun-wook, secretary-general of the National Care Service Union, pointed out, “The government sets the proportion of labor costs for all long-term care institutions through notifications, which controls the wage criteria for nursing assistants,” and questioned whether the government could genuinely deny being the employer under these conditions.
Park Mi-jin, deputy chief of the Social Welfare Division of the public transportation union, working for the Holt Children’s Welfare Society, stated, “When the Ministry of Health and Welfare sets the labor cost standards and facility operation/maintenance budget, local governments execute and manage it,” and asserted that the entity at the top of the labor condition decision structure must participate in negotiations.
However, on the 23rd of last month, the Ministry of Employment and Labor introduced interpretive guidelines expressing its intent to recognize the government’s employer characteristics in the public sector only in limited cases. Specifically, it stated that implementing working conditions within the budget fixed by law or the National Assembly is a result of public policy, making it difficult to be a direct subject of individual labor-management negotiations.
The ministries that received the negotiation request letters reportedly replied that “careful legal examination is necessary.”
Jeon Ho-il, vice-chairman of the KCTU, mentioned that they sent the letters to the Ministries of Health and Welfare, Gender Equality, and Education on the 10th, who stated that a careful legal examination is necessary regarding their status as employers or the content of negotiations, implying uncertainty about their role as the real employers. He explained that although it seems they are the real employers when listening to their arguments, the interpretation guidelines by the Ministry of Labor suggest otherwise.
He continued, “Whether the Labor Commission or the Decision Support Committee will conclude on employer characteristics, given how this issue could affect judgments on employer characteristics across the entire public sector, the KCTU will not prematurely demand a judgment on this matter.”
The KCTU plans to focus on discussing this issue in the labor-government consultation body launched last month.
Vice Chairman Jeon explained, “We will respond with a ‘two-track’ strategy, combining primary employer negotiation demands with labor-government consultation discussions,” and “will coordinate our internal assessments and consultation directions with the government’s responses.”
The KCTU designated the week leading up to the 20th as the ‘Care Workers Focused Action Week’ to promote collective action and plans to hold a care workers’ assembly on the 21st to further publicize the issue. In April and May, they plan to take concentrated actions, including press conferences for primary employer negotiations by occupation and affiliate.
Meanwhile, the government, in a press reference material released on the day, stated, “In cases where employer characteristics are recognized, we will earnestly engage in negotiations and, even if the recognition possibility is low, actively engage in communication with labor circles to negotiate and promote effective measures for improving public sector working conditions and treatment.”