The government announced revisions to an enforcement ordinance under the pro-labor "yellow envelope" law, outlining procedures for negotiations between subcontractors and contracting firms.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor on Monday unveiled draft revisions to the enforcement decree, which will undergo a public comment period from Tuesday to January 5 before taking effect on March 10.

The government said it will maintain, at each negotiating table, the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act's unified bargaining system, which designates a single representative negotiator in disputes involving multiple unions.

The revisions, however, will allow unions representing subcontracted workers to negotiate independently of those representing employees of their contracting firm.

In cases involving multiple subcontractor unions, bargaining units can be divided into separate tables by subcontractor or job characteristics.

Measures will be introduced to prevent the main contractor from ignoring subcontracted workers' requests for negotiation, such as mediation by the Labor Relations Commission.

Both labor and management have protested the revisions, with the labor groups claiming that maintaining unified negotiation channels could exclude small unions.

The business community, on the other hand, has claimed that the separation of bargaining units could undermine the principle of unity.