Lee Jae Myung Administration Blocks Samsung's Honam Semiconductor Talks... Koh Dong-jin Calls It 'Hypocrisy and the Yellow Envelope Act'

[Financial News] When the Samsung Electronics labor union said it would make investment in Honam semiconductors a bargaining issue, the Lee Jae Myung administration stepped in and blocked it, saying it was not a subject for negotiations. Koh Dong-jin, a lawmaker from the People Power Party and a former Samsung Electronics president, criticized the move as "hypocrisy."
After the Samsung Electronics Branch of the Supra-Enterprise Labor Union, Samsung Electronics' first labor union, said it would include the Honam semiconductor investment plan as a bargaining issue next year, the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) drew a line, saying that management decisions that do not affect working conditions are not subject to bargaining or industrial action under the revised labor union law, known as the Yellow Envelope Act.
In response, Rep. Koh issued a statement on the 14th, saying the government was interpreting the Yellow Envelope Act in a self-serving way. He argued that MOEL had taken a broad reading of the law because its purpose was to expand labor unions' bargaining rights, but changed its stance once the issue became an obstacle to the Honam semiconductor investment led by the Lee Jae Myung administration.
Koh countered MOEL's interpretation, saying, "If a Honam semiconductor fab is built, existing workers will inevitably be reassigned and moved to new workplaces, which in itself affects working conditions." He added, "Relocation allowances and housing support would also be provided, and those are part of worker welfare, which legally falls under working conditions."
He went on to say, "In other words, it is clear that pushing ahead with the Honam semiconductor investment plan affects working conditions, and the correct legal interpretation is that it is subject to labor disputes." He added, "The labor ministry under the Lee Jae Myung administration is making a very poor excuse. It is embarrassing to keep seeing this hypocrisy."

uknow@fnnews.com Kim Yun-ho Reporter