DP passes contentious bills as PPP backs down on filibuster threat

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) passed a pro-labor bill and other controversial measures on Thursday.

Lawmakers stand during a swearing-in ceremony for People Power Party Rep. Woo Shin-gu at the National Assembly on Thursday. [YONHAP]

The liberal Democratic Party (DP) passed a pro-labor bill and other controversial measures on Thursday.

The proposed amendment to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, widely referred to as the “yellow envelope bill,” would prevent companies from pursuing compensatory damages from labor unions that go on strike, while the other three measures would revise existing broadcasting laws to reduce the government’s influence over public broadcasters.

The PPP, which earlier said that 60 of its lawmakers were ready to participate in a filibuster to delay and prevent the passage of the yellow envelope bill and the broadcasting law revisions, backed down from its threat on Thursday.

Representatives of the Korea Enterprises Federation, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and four other major business associations gathered for a protest in front of the National Assembly on Wednesday to voice strong opposition to the yellow envelope bill, which they argued will deepen labor-related conflicts and paralyze the economy.

“We have said multiple times that industries will fall into extreme chaos if this bill is passed,” they said, adding that they were “shocked” that the DP “is still trying to bulldoze this bill through the National Assembly using its majority.”

The DP currently controls 168 seats in the 299-seat National Assembly.

Business representatives also warned that the yellow envelope bill would not only “prevent companies from running normal business operations,” but also imperil long-standing cooperation between large companies and smaller suppliers within major industries, such as automobile manufacturing, shipbuilding and construction, by exacerbating damages arising from labor disputes at all levels of production chains.

“If the bill becomes law, it will lead to endless labor-related strife and ultimately the collapse of the domestic manufacturing ecosystem as larger companies forgo Korean companies in favor of foreign suppliers,” they argued, adding the bill will “decimate” small- and medium-sized enterprises.

While the bills’ passage was all but guaranteed given the DP's absolute majority in the National Assembly, they are still subject to presidential approval.

The PPP earlier said it would ask President Yoon Suk Yeol to veto the bills if the DP pushes them through the National Assembly.

Yoon has previously rejected two DP-sponsored pieces of legislation.

The president vetoed the Nursing Act, which was aimed at more clearly delineating the nursing profession than the way it is currently described in the Medical Service Act, as well as an amendment to the Grain Management Act that would have required the government to purchase surplus rice.

The support of two-thirds of a National Assembly quorum, or at least 199 lawmakers, is necessary to override a presidential veto.

In its last attempt to override Yoon’s veto on the Nursing Act in May, the DP was able to muster support from only 178 lawmakers, with 104 opposing and four votes deemed void.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]