18 November, 2010KMWU secures another court victory in the struggle to protect the rights to join a union and bargain collectively for in-house subcontracted workers at Hyundai Motors, who on average earn less than 50 to 60 per cent of the wages of direct employees.
SOUTH KOREA: The Seoul High Court issued a ruling on November 12 in a case brought by seven former in-house subcontracted workers at Asan Plant of Hyundai Motor. The ruling is in line with previous court rulings, which state that in-house subcontractors' employees, who worked continuously for two years or longer, are in fact illegal dispatch workers and instead should be treated as the employees of the contractor company.
On July 22, the Supreme Court ruled on a case filed by the former in-house subcontracted workers at Ulsan Plant of Hyundai Motor that "when an in-house subcontracted employee had been employed for longer than two years and had been practically under the contractor employer's instruction and control while at work, he/she shall be treated as being directly employed by the contractor employer (Hyundai Motor) even if an unlawful practice of employee leasing was involved under the former law on employee leasing," and sent the case back to the first-trial court.
These rulings are particularly significant as they confirm the contractor employer's responsibility to employ in-house subcontracted workers directly.
Shortly after the ruling in July, the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU) representing the in-house subcontracted workers at Hyundai Motors asked the company for collective bargaining on direct employment, but Hyundai Motor has refused to conduct collective bargaining, saying that the union is not its bargaining counterpart.
On November 4, KMWU filed a lawsuit against Hyundai Motor demanding that in-house subcontracted workers with the service period of two years or longer should be moved to a regular job and compensated for the differences in lost wages. The in-house subcontracted workers on average earn less than 50 to 60 per cent of the wages of direct employees.
On November 5, KMWU submitted an application for mediation of an industrial dispute over collective bargaining with Hyundai Motors to the National Labor Relations Commission.
The union also conducted strike votes among the unionized non-regular workers at Ulsan and Asan Plant on November 11 and 12, and an overwhelming majority voted for the strike. Another strike vote at the Jeonju Plant will be completed by November 18.