Unionized Busan heavy-equipment operators fined by FTC

A union has been fined 100 million-won ($79,900) by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) for pressuring construction companies to hire only union members.

Ready-mixed concrete vehicles pulled up at a construction site in Seoul on Dec. 8. [YONHAP]

A union has been fined 100 million-won ($79,900) by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) for pressuring construction companies to hire only union members.

The union members were ready-mixed concrete operators and heavy construction equipment operators, including excavator and crane.

Regulators said the union pressured the construction firms by refusing to deliver ready-mixed concrete, halting the operation of construction equipment and holding a rally.

In addition to the fine, the FTC issued a corrective order.

The decision comes after President Yoon Suk-yeol’s statement last week that he will combat corrupt unions.

The FTC imposed the fine and corrective order against the Busan office of the Korean Construction Workers Union under the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions for excluding rival union members from getting hired at the construction sites in Busan in 2020.

In Busan and South Gyeongsang, 1,838 ready-mixed concrete operators registered. Among them, 1,793 are members of the Korean Construction Workers Union.

The union accounts for 29.5 percent of construction equipment operators registered in Busan and 97.6 percent of ready-mixed concrete operators registered in Busan and some parts of South Gyeongsang.

The union argues that the act is not a violation of the antitrust regulation as it is not a business entity.

The FTC said under the law construction equipment operators are defined as a single business as they label themselves as so when signing contracts with construction companies.

Although they are employees in the special employment type category, their status as a business operator does not change, the FTC said.

The FTC's fine is 10 percent of the union's annual budget for 2020, which was 1 billion won.

The union’s coercive acts have been the subject of criticism by the government.

Minister Won Hee-ryong of Land, Infrastructure and Transport recently said that the union is "taking away money and valuables.”

Won added that he will no longer neglect the issue.

Yoon last week said, “the nation has been focused on corruption in the public and private sectors, but corrupt unions standing in the way of improved industrial relations have begun to draw public attention,” he said. "To avoid ineffective labor disputes and use the costs for the welfare of workers, the rule of law should be consolidated in labor relations, and the country should set up guidelines to prevent unnecessary conflicts and labor actions.” CAPTION:

Ready-mixed concrete vehicles pulled up at a construction site in Seoul on Dec. 8. [YONHAP]

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]