100 Days of the 'Yellow Envelope Act': Where Do We Stand?

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The "Yellow Envelope Act," which allows subcontracted workers to negotiate directly with their primary contractors, marks its 100th day of implementation tomorrow, June 17. Recently, a series of rulings have recognized subcontracted workers in areas such as catering and laundry services as eligible for direct bargaining with primary contractors, leading to significant changes in the field.

Reporter Jeon Hyeong-u has the story.

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Subcontracted workers at Hanwha Ocean, who provide services such as catering, laundry, and shuttle bus operations, have long demanded direct negotiations with the primary contractor.

[Hanwha Ocean Subcontracted Workers' Union: All workers at Hanwha Ocean must be able to engage in direct negotiations with the primary contractor.]

The National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) has ruled that Hanwha Ocean must engage in negotiations with them.

The commission determined that Hanwha Ocean, as the primary contractor, qualifies as an employer under the Trade Union Act because it makes substantial and specific decisions regarding the safety and working conditions of the subcontracted workers.

The NLRC explained its reasoning, stating, "Improvements to aging facilities in areas such as kitchens, laundry rooms, and shuttle buses cannot be implemented by the subcontracting firm alone without the cooperation and approval of Hanwha Ocean."

The Ulsan Regional Labor Relations Commission also recognized that Hyundai Motor Company must comply with bargaining requests from 10 subcontracted unions responsible for tasks such as catering and security.

As these rulings increasingly recognize the employer status of primary contractors, the business community is pushing back.

[Jang Jeong-woo, Head of Labor-Management Cooperation at the Korea Enterprises Federation: We are concerned that confusion will grow as the scope of bargaining partners is expanded to include indirect support and cooperation relationships, rather than just primary-subcontractor relationships directly related to production.]

With the Yellow Envelope Act reaching its 100th day tomorrow, 1,151 subcontracted unions have requested negotiations with 434 primary contractors as of June 12.

Among them, 90 primary contractors have announced their intent to negotiate, but only 8 have actually begun the process, accounting for just 1.8% of the total.

[Yang Kyung-soo, President of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (on June 10): When we opened the lid, we found that there are no employers coming to the table. Many companies that initially said they would negotiate are now requesting re-examinations from the NLRC.]

In the early stages of the law's implementation, there is a strong tendency to seek legal judgments.

There are growing concerns that the process—involving regional labor commissions, the national commission, and even administrative lawsuits—is taking too much time and money to reach actual negotiations.

Reported by Jeon Hyeong-u | Video by Bae Moon-san | Video Editing by Kim Ho-jin | Source: Korean Metal Workers' Union Shipbuilding Subcontractors Branch | Data courtesy of Office of Representative Kim So-hee
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.