Request for review and meeting with Lee Jae-myeong
Of the 7 people who entered, 2 trade unionists were arrested.
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), who went on hunger strike demanding the amendment of Articles 2 and 3 of the Labor and Labor Relations Adjustment Act (Trade Union Act), also known as the “Envelope Act yellow,” entered the central building of the Democratic Party of Korea in Yeouido, Seoul on the 26th and held a sit-in.
It was around 8:00 am that day when KCTU union members entered the Democratic Party building. They urged the Democratic Party to actively address the bill within the year and requested a meeting with Representative Lee Jae-myung. Police arrested two union members on suspicion of entering a building and took them to Yeongdeungpo Police Station. An official from the Business Office for the Review of Articles 2 and 3 of the Union Act (Business Office) said: “I know that I came in (the company) to ask for a solution because I was frustrated that the situation did not resolve quickly even after a long fast”.
Vice President Park and others held a hunger strike in front of the National Assembly from the 30th to the 27th of last month, urging the revision of Articles 2 and 3 of the Union Act. The revision of Article 2 of the Union Act broadens the concept as an employer by defining an employer within the meaning of the Union Act as “a person who exercises de facto influence over working conditions”. The intention is to include workers in overtime and indirect work within the framework of the protection of trade union rights. The Article 3 amendment is a key provision of the yellow envelope law, which limits the company’s claims for damages against striking workers.
The movement’s headquarters held a press conference that day in front of the National Assembly and said, “The position of revising only Article 3 while leaving Article 2 as it is comes from some parts of the Democratic Party.” He continued: “The revision of Article 2 of the Trade Union Law to secure the bargaining rights of workers in special and indirect employment is in no way a separate issue from the revision of Article 3 of the Trade Union Law.”
The Democratic Party stressed that it had “done its best” and said, “We will keep the door of communication open.” Representative Lee Su-jin of the National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee, a spokesman for the Democratic Party, said, “Meanwhile, people at the movement’s headquarters and civil society and religious leaders, including the Confederacy of the trade unions, have asked for meetings, and we have met often to listen to their opinions”.
Journalists Kim Jeong-hwa and Kim Ga-hyun