Assembly passes pro-labor ‘Yellow Envelope Bill’

The opposition-led National Assembly on Monday passed a pro-labor bill that seeks to limit employers from filing damage claims against workers during legitimate disputes and requires them to engage in collective bargaining with subcontractor labor unions, amid ongoing protest from the ruling party over the bill.

The bill, dubbed the “Yellow Envelope Bill," which is a revision to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, passed in a 177-2 vote during an afternoon plenary session. Reps. Lee Jun-seok and Lee Ju-young of the minor opposition New Reform Party voted against the passage of the bill.

People Power Party lawmakers walked out of the session before the vote took place to protest the opposition parties' decision to table and pass the bill. The ruling party's lawmakers had staged a 31-hour filibuster from Friday to Sunday in an attempt to stall the passage of the bill.

Monday’s vote came after the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, which controls a clear majority with 175 of the total 300 seats in the single chamber parliament, revived the contentious bill, which had also been passed by the preceding 21st Assembly but then vetoed by President Yoon Suk Yeol in December last year.

Ahead of the plenary vote, the ruling party announced its plan to request Yoon, who began his five-day summer vacation on Monday, to veto the Yellow Envelope Bill alongside a second bill stipulating that the central and local governments provide universal cash payments of 250,000-350,000 won ($180-$252) per citizen in the form of vouchers to be used locally. The cash payment bill, a key parliamentary election pledge by Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party’s former chair who is currently running in the party leadership race to clinch a second term, was passed by the opposition-led Assembly on Friday.

“We plan to strongly recommend the president to exercise his veto power if the Assembly passes the Yellow Envelope Bill, which encourages illegal walkouts, on top of the cash payment bill the Democratic Party of Korea unilaterally railroaded through the Assembly (on Friday),” People Power Party Floor Leader Rep. Choo Kyung-ho said in an intra-party leadership meeting held at the ruling party's headquarters around noon.

Yoon is expected to veto the two bills in the upcoming weeks, as he is legally required to issue his decision either to promulgate or veto the bills within 15 days of them being delivered to his Cabinet by the Assembly.

Yoon has so far exercised his veto power 15 times since taking office in 2022, the second-most number of vetoes by any president in the country's history.

The government and South Korea's major business lobby groups expressed disagreement with the Assembly's move to pass the Yellow Envelope Bill.

"The bill encourages conflict within industrial workplaces and prompts illegal protests and walkouts. The government refuses to agree with the amendments that turn a blind eye towards the difficulties in the livelihoods of the people and (deteriorate) the relations between the employers and the employees here," Labor Minister Lee Jung-sik said in an afternoon briefing.

The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry said the reform bill is "projected to have negative impacts on all aspects of (Korea's) economy including relations between employers, cooperation among businesses and foreign investment if turned into law," in a statement.

The Korea Enterprises Federation called for Yoon to exert his veto power against the bill, calling the scenario "the only way to stop the possible chaos within industrial workplaces."

On the other hand, the country’s two umbrella union groups -- the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions -- urged the president to swiftly promulgate the bill.

The Assembly on Monday also approved the nomination of Lee Sook-yeon, a judge at the Patent Court, as a Supreme Court justice. In a vote that took place after the passage of the Yellow Envelope Bill, the motion to approve Lee Sook-yeon's nomination passed in a 206-58 vote, with seven abstentions. Lee will replace one of the three outgoing justices at the nation's top court.

The approval came after the National Assembly in late July once delayed the adoption of a report on the confirmation hearing results for judge Lee, halting her appointment due to escalating controversy over nepotism allegations.

The parliamentary Special Committee on the Confirmation Hearing's decision followed allegations involving her daughter. It is suspected that her 26-year-old daughter gained substantial benefits from unlisted stock transactions, reportedly facilitated by nepotism, often referred to in Korean as "father's chance."

In response to the growing criticism, Lee Sook-yeon apologized and pledged to donate the unlisted stocks owned by her and her daughter.

The Assembly's latest approval follows its decision last week to vote in favor of the nominations of Roh Kyung-pil, a senior judge at the Suwon High Court, and Park Young-jae, a senior judge at the Seoul High Court, as the two other top court justices.

There are a total 14 Supreme Court justices in South Korea. The president has the authority to appoint Supreme Court justices, but they require the approval of the National Assembly to take office.