Separate bargaining surge demands clear guidelines

A colleague’s vacation is easy to support in principle, but harder to welcome when the workload shifts to those who remain. Time off is essential, yet the added burden it creates often goes unspoken.

A recent case at the Korea Development Institute, or KDI, illustrates the strain. The state-run think tank employs environmental management workers responsible for cleaning and waste collection. Their standard shift runs from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. When a colleague takes leave, however, others must start at 4 a.m. and cover additional areas. “Taking consecutive days off felt difficult because it increased the workload for others,” one worker said.

The institute began paying proper overtime only late last year. The workers, previously employed by a subcontractor, became direct KDI employees in January 2020 under a public-sector regularization policy introduced during the Moon Jae-in administration. Despite the transition, they went four years without overtime pay. Even after payments began in late 2024, compensation was granted only if workers reported at 4 a.m. for at least two consecutive days.

KDI already had a general labor union with 92 members, but it struggled to represent the roughly 20 environmental management workers. The union includes employees from research, security and other roles, leaving different groups to compete for limited gains secured through negotiations. The situation reflects a typical case of labor-labor conflict within a single workplace.

The environmental workers formed a separate union late last year and, in January, asked the Chungnam Regional Labor Relations Commission to allow independent wage negotiations. Under current rules, multiple unions within a single workplace are generally required to consolidate bargaining through a single representative body.

The commission sided with the workers, citing clear differences in working conditions and employment status. It said the existing framework was unlikely to adequately reflect their interests. After KDI appealed, the National Labor Relations Commission upheld the decision, permitting separate bargaining. The environmental union can now negotiate on equal footing with the institute alongside the existing union.

Since the revised labor law known as the “yellow envelope law” took effect about six weeks ago, requests for separate bargaining have surged. While the law mainly targets subcontracted workers and the KDI case involves unions within the same employer, the underlying argument is similar: unified representation does not fully reflect each group’s interests. Many cases pit rival unions under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions against those under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. POSCO E&C, for example, now faces negotiations with four unions, including those representing both primary and subcontracted workers.

Labor authorities have yet to establish clear criteria for approving separate bargaining requests. Officials say decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. As each ruling draws close scrutiny from industry, observers say clearer standards are needed, particularly in cases like KDI where the implications extend beyond a single workplace.


Hye-Ryung Choi herstory@donga.com