“Stop the construction union abuse”… The government withdrew its sword belatedly after 5 years

An apartment site in Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do suffered a commotion after hiring a union member A as a tower crane pilot. Union B stopped the tower crane operated by their union members and started a protest. At another site in Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, workers belonging to Union C crossed the front of the site entrance in groups or threw coins on the floor and picked them up, blocking traffic and delaying the construction. It was to pressure the recruitment of C union members.

The government drew its sword against the construction union, which engaged in illegal acts and abuse, such as forcing the employer to accept unreasonable demands by forcing employees to hire members of their union and obstructing construction progress.

On the 31st, the government announced that it had deliberated and finalized a plan to eradicate illegal acts at construction sites, such as coercion to hire, by holding a meeting to review and adjust state affairs. Prime Minister Kim Bu-gyeom said, “If illegal acts such as coercion to hire become entrenched at the construction site, safety and competitiveness can no longer be guaranteed.” do,” he said. Prime Minister Kim emphasized that “we will discuss with the takeover committee,” and that “we will definitely change the climate of taking the government’s will lightly.”

First of all, the government has decided to operate working-level consultative groups in each region of the country at all times in order to respond quickly when problems arise at construction sites. It is planned to designate a person in charge of construction sites for each ministry and focus on managing the receiving site of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport report center and sites where complaints and accusations have been made. The working group includes the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and the Fair Trade Commission.

In addition, the government has established a policy to strictly enforce the law against illegal acts at any site and for any reason. The plan is to ensure that construction progress is not obstructed by punishing all illegal acts such as obstruction of access to construction sites, intrusion into buildings, as well as violations of violence and noise regulations. In particular, it was decided to set a precedent for sanctioning illegal acts of construction unions as violations of the Fair Trade Act and actively apply them to violations of the same and similar laws. To this end, the construction union plans to handle 21 cases of violations of the Fair Trade Act within the first half of this year. As for the level of sanctions, not only corrective orders, but also the imposition of fines and accusations will be actively utilized.

At the same time, the Recruitment Procedure Act and the Construction Machinery Management Act will be revised to supplement the legal and institutional deficiencies that have had limitations in responding to illegal acts by the construction union. In addition, it was decided to review and promote the creation of a contract and recruitment system using the platform so that each construction company would not be under direct recruitment and contract pressure.

The government recognized that the problems such as delays in deadlines due to forced employment by the union at construction sites, demands for money, and violence or threats or loss of employment opportunities for non-union members were serious. measures have been taken.

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