‘자율교섭’과 ‘교섭단위분리’에 관한 법적 쟁점

Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act (TULRA) was revised in 2010 and the implementation of the multiple union systems started in 2011. This implementation means a shift from a system permitting only one labor union per company to one that allows many unions for the same company. Autonomous agreement under the “voluntary collective bargaining system” is the ideal way to negotiate. However, if multiple trade unions are organized in the same workplace, it appears that competition between labor unions to acquire the right to represent workers during negotiations will be intensify and labor disputes not only between unions but also between labor and management will be prone to occur. Moreover, we can also imagine that there will be discriminations in working conditions between unions. Therefore, to solve these problems, TULRA introduced “bargaining channel unification system”. On the other hand, the system to separate bargaining unit is based on the unification of bargaining channel, thus its object differs from voluntary bargaining. Nevertheless, both systems are designed to bring the same outcomes depending on their operation methods. The voluntary bargaining, of course, can be conducted under the agreements between labor and management (strictly speaking ‘consents by employers’). However, the separation of bargaining unit is premised on the decision of Labor Relations Commission, and if the labor committee accepts the separation of bargaining units, even a minority union will be able to engage in bargaining individually as well. In other words, there is possibility for the labor and management to strategically select the voluntary bargaining and the separation of bargaining unit. Although the voluntary bargaining and the separation of bargaining unit are very important issue in collective bargaining, there are no related regulations on these bargaining systems but general clauses. Of course, since the labor and management have their own initiatives in choosing the negotiations such as voluntary bargaining or separation of bargaining unit, it is not to be desired that when the legislation is deeply involved in the negotiations of unions, the principle of labor-management autonomy will be damaged. Therefore, it is imperative to operate the system of unification of bargaining window that was introduced in the revised TULRA in 2010 in accordance with the original purpose of legislation. Furthermore, regarding to voluntary bargaining and separation of bargaining unit, this paper presents the rational standard of interpretation towards the legal issues mentioned in the paper to make an effort to minimize and to overcome the confusions at the actual scene of labor.