Lee Jae Myung: "If labor disputes include profit-sharing and even management rights, there will be no end"

[Financial News] On the 21st, President Lee Jae Myung took a negative stance on whether the issue of distributing a certain percentage of operating profit to workers falls under the scope of labor disputes, saying that it is "more likely not." He also instructed the labor ministry to establish clear standards after Samsung Electronics' union argued that the issue should be subject to labor-management negotiations in connection with a semiconductor plant project at the Gwangju Military Airport site, saying that management decisions as a whole cannot be treated as labor dispute issues.
At the 31st State Council of South Korea meeting, which he chaired at the main building of Cheong Wa Dae that day, Lee referred to the recent controversy over the scope of labor disputes and said, "Is the issue of distributing a certain percentage of operating profit really a subject for dispute? In my view, it is more likely not."
Lee pointed out, "Because they are saying a semiconductor plant will be built at Gwangju Military Airport, the existing union is claiming that it should be a subject for labor-management negotiations and a labor dispute." He added, "Some of the remarks are so extreme that people are startled, as if they mean workers should not go if they do not agree, or cannot go."
He went on to say, "If a factory is built in Gwangju, they may be transferred there, so they seem to be arguing that it is a labor dispute issue. But if that is the standard, there can be nothing in any company's management rights that is unrelated." He added, "If inheritance issues or the sale of management rights are said to have the potential to worsen working conditions, then they could also become dispute issues. That would go on endlessly."
Lee stressed that the government should present clear standards on the scope of labor disputes. "Providing certain standards on labor law is also the government's role," he said. "It is not necessary to settle every issue solely through legislation. Laws provide broad principles, and it is the executive branch's job to flesh them out."
Kim Young-hoon, minister of employment and labor, explained in relation to the Samsung Electronics umbrella union's claim, "We judge that treating the business decision itself — Samsung Electronics' plan to build a large semiconductor plant in Gwangju — as a subject of dispute does not apply." He added, "We have also issued a press release saying it goes against the purpose of the revised labor union law."
In response, Lee said, "There are management personnel rights, and there can also be management decisions related to working conditions, so the boundaries are unclear." He added, "Whether distributing a certain percentage of operating profit should be a subject of dispute is being debated across workplaces, and there are quite a few workplaces that are deciding whether to strike over this."
He then ordered, "The government's position should also be set to some extent. It would be better to define things clearly in advance through enforcement decrees, presidential decrees, enforcement rules, and labor ministry guidelines."
Lee said, "Before a dispute arises and the Labor Relations Commission makes a ruling, and before the matter goes to court, please organize it through presidential decrees, enforcement rules, guidelines, or notices if necessary." He added, "That is how social conflict can be reduced."
He added, "If this kind of expansion continues, will there ever be an end?" and urged, "Please settle it quickly at a reasonable level." Kim replied, "We will provide proper guidance in the field and prepare interpretive guidelines as well." He added, "The Samsung Electronics umbrella union's claim appears not to align with the purpose of the revised labor union law."

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