Subcontractors demand talks

[Anchor]

With the passage of the Yellow Envelope Act in the National Assembly, subcontractor unions have begun to demand negotiations with large corporations, the primary contractors.

Although the government claims it will create guidelines before the Act takes effect, it seems difficult to avoid conflict.

Reporter Kim Min-kyung has the details.

[Report]

Subcontracted non-regular workers from Hyundai Steel stand in front of the National Assembly, demanding direct employment from the primary contractor.

They assert that "the real boss is Hyundai Steel," demanded to enter negotiations, and said they plan to file a lawsuit soon.

[Yoon Myung-cheol/Hyundai Steel illegal dispatch victim worker: "Just because Hyundai Steel has a subsidiary in between does not mean that the illegal dispatch crime disappears."]

The unions of six subsidiaries under Naver have also announced plans to hold a rally, stating they will hold Naver, the primary contractor, responsible for the failure of collective bargaining.

Demands for negotiations from subcontractor unions against primary contractors have been emerging across various sectors, including Samsung Electronics' partners, shipping, delivery, department stores, and duty-free shops, following the passage of the Yellow Envelope Act.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to listen to opinions from labor and management during the six-month grace period and to specify the criteria for determining the employer status of primary contractors and the scope of labor disputes.

Currently, the biggest issue between labor and management is the "scope of the employer."

The Act can only be applied if the primary contractor has substantial control over the subcontractor, but the criteria for this in the passed law are not clear.

[Park Eun-jung/Professor of Law at Korea National Open University: "There may be a need for guidelines on the content of substantial and specific control, or amendments to the enforcement decree that can supplement that content..."]

The business community is calling for the establishment of criteria to limit the scope of primary contractors that can be the subject of negotiations with subcontractors.

[Hwang Yong-yeon/Head of Labor Policy at Korea Enterprises Federation: "The scope itself is broad, and this causes a lot of confusion about whether the primary contractor is actually the employer or not."]

Additionally, there is a stance that subsequent legislation to defend management rights should follow.

On the other hand, the labor sector insists that the scope of legal interpretation should not be narrowed, so significant difficulties are expected until the government establishes its guidelines.

This is KBS News, Kim Min-kyung reporting.