Korea SMEs and Startups Agency opens first formal talks with subsidiary union

The Korea SMEs and Startups Agency has entered into regular formal collective bargaining with its subsidiary's union for the first time, establishing a direct negotiation framework between a public institution and its subsidiary amid the expanded employer obligations introduced by a revised labor union law that took effect in March.

The agency announced Wednesday that it held the first round of parent-subsidiary collective bargaining for 2026 with the KOSAC Partners branch of the National Public Transport and Social Services Workers' Union at the Small and Medium Venture Business Training Institute in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, on Tuesday, signing a bargaining operations agreement at the session.

KOSAC Partners is a subsidiary of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency responsible for facility management and administrative support services. The agency was represented at the talks by Deputy President Lee Byung-chul, along with the heads of its human resources, management support and safety management divisions. The union side included branch chief Seo Jae-cheon and Kim Seon-jong, a deputy chairman of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' public transport and services union, among roughly 10 bargaining representatives from both sides.

The bargaining operations agreement sets out the procedures and basic principles for future negotiations. The agency and the union plan to proceed with working-level talks on that basis.

The bargaining follows the March 10 entry into force of the revised Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act. The amended law allows an entity to be recognized as an employer — within the relevant scope — even if it is not a direct party to a labor contract, provided it holds a position that substantially and specifically controls or determines working conditions. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, in the 100 days after the revised law took effect, 1,161 subcontractor unions filed bargaining demands against 439 primary contractor workplaces.

The institutional framework for discussing working conditions of civil service workers in the public sector is also set to expand. The Act on the Establishment and Operation of the Civil Service Workers Committee takes effect Friday. The law establishes a civil service workers committee under the prime minister and mandates that it deliberate on and coordinate employment, wages, working conditions and personnel management policies for civil service workers in the public sector. Subsidiaries of public institutions fall within the scope of the public sector under the law.

"We will listen carefully to the union's voice within the bounds of the law and principles, and proactively respond to changes in public-sector labor policy, including the launch of the civil service workers committee," Deputy President Lee said.