The court makes its first judgment regarding the usability of the main contractor after the implementation of the Yellow Envelope Act... Denies the suspension of execution of Far East Construction.

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Ok Seong-gu = The court's first ruling regarding the usability of primary contracts was made after the implementation of the Yellow Envelope Act (Amended Trade Union Act) last March.

According to relevant ministries and agencies on the 17th, the 3rd Administrative Division of the Seoul Administrative Court (Chief Judge Ho Seong-ho) dismissed the application for suspension of execution of the order to correct the public notice of negotiation demand filed by Far East Construction against the Chairman of the Central Labor Relations Commission the previous day.

Previously, the Korea Tower Crane Operators' Union requested collective bargaining from Far East Construction, but when the request was not accepted, it applied for public notice of the request for negotiation to the Labor Relations Commission.

The Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission issued a corrective order to announce the request for negotiation, saying that Far East Construction was the main contractor. The Central Labor Relations Commission also did not accept Far East Construction's request for retrial for the same purpose as the initial decision.

Accordingly, Far East Construction filed a lawsuit to cancel the Central Labor Relations Commission's retrial decision and applied for a suspension of execution of the Labor Committee's initial trial and retrial decisions.

However, the court dismissed the application for suspension of execution, saying that the obligation to collectively bargain does not arise solely from the public notice of a request for negotiation.

The court explained, “The initial decision only imposes a public law obligation on Far East Construction to announce the fact of the negotiation request,” and “It does not directly create or change the legal relationship between Far East Construction and the union.”

At the same time, it was judged that "Kukdong Construction does not have a new obligation to respond to collective bargaining or conclude a collective bargaining agreement due to the initial decision, and it cannot be evaluated as a change in the judgment as to whether the refusal to negotiate constitutes an unfair labor practice," and added, "It is difficult to recognize that the circumstances raised by Far Eastern Construction are damages resulting from the initial decision."

In addition, regarding Far East Construction's claim that fulfillment of the obligation to notify would lead to industrial action and cause damages equivalent to liquidated damages, the court did not accept, saying, "It is difficult to say that the initial decision and suspension of execution are directly related to whether industrial action occurred."

It is judged that there is no risk of irreparable damage to Far East Construction that would necessitate the suspension of the Labor Committee's corrective order, and that the corrective order does not have a significant impact on public welfare.

With this decision to dismiss, the Labor Commission's corrective order remains in effect.

However, the judgment on Far East Construction's original contract usability will be dealt with in the main lawsuit.

This is the first time that the Yellow Envelope Act has been implemented and the court has made related decisions, including lawsuits on the merits and applications for suspension of execution.

The Central Labor Relations Commission said, "With this decision, it has been confirmed that Far East Construction has an obligation under public law to announce the negotiation request in accordance with the corrective order from the Labor Relations Commission," and added, "We will closely monitor and respond to the progress of the lawsuit in the future."