The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) will stage a general strike on the 15th to bring the principal employer, the ‘real boss’, to the bargaining table.

On the 8th, the KCTU held a press conference at its office in Jung-gu, Seoul, and announced it will hold a general-strike rally around Gwanghwamun in Seoul on the 15th. Although the enforcement of the Yellow Envelope Act (amended Trade Union Act) has opened a path for subcontracted workers to bargain directly with principal employers, the union is moving to take action after principal employers refused to engage in bargaining.

About 10,000 members affiliated with the KCTU, including the Care Workers Union and the Korea Plant Construction Workers Union, are expected to participate in this general strike. As some members at worksites where bargaining with principal employers is under way will not take part, the turnout is smaller than initially expected. It is estimated that 30,000 people took part nationwide in the July 16 general-strike rally last year.

The KCTU stated, “The principal employer, which substantively determines the wages, working hours, and other working conditions of subcontracted workers, is evading bargaining while denying employer responsibility,” and, “We will make this year the first year of principal-employer bargaining and bring the principal employer, the real employer, to the bargaining table.”

It also called for guaranteeing the basic labor rights of specially employed and platform workers. The KCTU said, “Specially employed and platform workers are under the direction and control of employers, yet they are treated as non-workers and left in a blind spot for basic labor rights,” and, “The right to form unions and bargain, and the right to take collective action, must be guaranteed.” It further argued that a supra-enterprise bargaining system at the industry and sector level should be established to overcome the limits of enterprise-based bargaining.

KCTU Chair Yang Kyung-su said, “Over the past four months, about 600 workplaces within the KCTU have demanded bargaining with some 400 principal employers, but only 4 are actually in bargaining,” and added, “Even though the law has been amended, if employers do not acknowledge responsibility, we have no choice but to fight.” He emphasized, “Because unionization rates among subcontracted workers are not high, the strike may not be large in scale, but it is meaningful as their first struggle demanding bargaining with principal employers.”

The KCTU plans to continue its struggle into August and September if principal employers do not agree to bargain after the general strike.