Hana Bank and Kookmin Bank reached a voluntary agreement with a call center union representing workers at their subcontractors on the agenda for collective bargaining. It is the first case since the revised Trade Union Act, known as the Yellow Envelope Act, took effect in which parties to a contractor-subcontractor mediation request have defined bargaining items through voluntary negotiations.
The National Labor Relations Commission said on the 30th that Hana Bank, Kookmin Bank and the Deundeun (Reliable) Call Center Workers' branch of the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers' Union, which represents call center workers at the banks' subcontractors, affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, had voluntarily agreed on collective bargaining items.
The union filed for mediation with the commission on the 9th of this month but continued voluntary negotiations with the banks afterward, discussing ways to hold talks between the main contractors and their subcontractors.
The two sides agreed to form a cooperation council starting next month that will include the banks, their subcontractors and the union. The council will take up issues such as protecting workers in emotional labor roles. With the agreement in place, the union withdrew its mediation request with the commission on the same day.
The agreement is the first case since the revised Trade Union Act took effect in which parties to a contractor-subcontractor mediation request have defined bargaining items through voluntary negotiations. "We welcome the voluntary agreement," the commission said, adding that it hoped dialogue and bargaining between main contractors and subcontractors would proceed smoothly.
