Advisory Case on Interpreting the Obligation to Conclude a Collective Agreement and Establishing a Negotiation Strategy

1. The Client's Situation

A small and medium-sized enterprise operating numerous projects in the construction field received a request for collective bargaining from a labor union that a day laborer working at one of its sites had joined. The union demanded bargaining against some of the multiple subcontractors, and the client requested legal advice out of concerns about issues of fairness toward the many non-union workers and about the effectiveness of concluding a collective agreement given the nature of short-term construction sites.

Based on the relevant labor statutes, Your Legal Team explained the requirements under which the obligation to conclude a collective agreement arises, and assessed the room for negotiation from the client's standpoint. In particular, while pointing out the legal risks that could arise from refusing collective bargaining, we presented a practical strategy that could use the changes in the site's workforce structure and the scheduled contract-termination timing as bargaining cards. We also provided guidance on the procedure for unifying the bargaining channel in the event of multiple unions and on response measures for each stage of that timing.

The client came to clearly understand the legal obligation to conclude a collective agreement and the practical response strategy accordingly, and established a basis for advantageously reflecting the employer's position in the bargaining process. This enabled it to prevent unnecessary legal disputes and to create a stable negotiation environment based on labor-management trust.