The Daejeon District Court on January 31 decided that five public corporations and agencies such as Korea Railroad Corporation(Korail) and Korea Water Resources Corporation(K-water) should halt the implementation of the performance-based pay system. The court decision is based on the rationale behind that when the system implementation is postponed, the corporations and agencies can maintain the status quo, whereas the workers will get irreparable damages.
The court granted all of the injunction requests which were filed by five unions of the Korail, K-water, Korea Rail Network Authority, Korea Gas Technology Corporation, and Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety against their respective corporations and agencies to cease the effect of the performance-based pay system. The court decision means that the implementation of the performance-based pay system should be suspended until the verdict of the first trial on the case.
The court also explained that when the system implementation is suspended, the collective bargaining right for trade unions shall be fully guaranteed as written in the Constitution and both sides can have enough time to look into their employment rules in good faith.
However, the previous court decisions by the Seoul Central District Court and Jeonju District Court dismissed the injunction requests on the same case filed by trade unions of the Industrial Bank of Korea(IBK), Korea Housing & Urban Guarantee Corporation, National Pension Service(NPS), and Korea Land and Geospatial Corporation, citing the difficulty in determining the infringement of collective bargaining right caused by the system implementation and no immediate concerns on irreparable damages and urgent dangers.
reported by Yoon Ja-eun
translated by Kim Sung-jin