LABOR UNION ACT AND SETTLEMENT OF LABOR DISPUTES ACT TO BE AMENDED

05/01/2009

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The Draft Amendments to the Labor Union Act and the Settlement of Labor Disputes Act were passed at a meeting of the Council of Labor Affairs on March 20, 2009.

According to the draft amendment to the Labor Union Act, all employees except for active military personnel may establish a labor union. In addition, in order to strengthen the power of the labor union, if half of the employees of an enterprise join the labor union, the rest of the employees of the enterprise will be obligated to join the labor union. Companies in the same industry may also establish an inter-company labor union. Moreover, in order to increase funding for the labor union from the employer's revenue, the membership fee is raised from "no more than 2 days' salary" to "no less than 1 day's salary," and the monthly fee is raised from "no more than 2% of the monthly salary" to "no less than 0.5% of the monthly salary."

According to the draft amendment to the Settlement of Labor Disputes Act, workers in any industry except for government employees, teachers, employees of the Department of Defense and its subordinate agencies, and employees of schools are permitted to go on strikes. Companies whose products or services are related to the people's daily lives and safety, such as suppliers of water, electricity, or gas and hospitals must enter into a group agreement with their employees in order to guarantee minimum services to the public before a strike is mounted. Furthermore, a labor union may stage a strike if such strike is favored by a majority of the entire membership by secret ballot; no general meeting of the labor union needs to be held. The strike may also be mounted immediately without waiting for the 30-day cooling-off period.

On the other hand, the draft amendment to the Settlement of Labor Disputes Act also shored up the mediation and arbitration mechanism. Still, no strike vote shall be taken unless the mediation procedure has been proved a failure. However, the conciliators will be no longer be chosen by the employer and the employees, but will be appointed by the government. The central competent authority will establish a committee to arbitrate labor disputes between the government and military personnel or government employees. Also, more reasons for going on a strike have been recognized in the amendment. Moreover, the litigation fee and deposit which employees need to pay during the litigation relating to labor disputes is also decreased.

If the assembly or parade gathered or mounted by the employees is legal and within the scope of a legal strike, such assembly and parade are not subject to the Assembly and Parade Act, and no prior application for such assembly or parade is required. Unless bodily injury is inflicted, employees are not subject to any civil liabilities and/or criminal liabilities resulted from the strike staged by them if the strike is legal.