C) The Need and Direction of Amending the Trade Union Act to Protect the 3 Labor Rights Article 33(1) of the Constitution stipulates that “workers shall have the right to independent association, collective bargaining and collective action to enhance working conditions,” the 3 labor rights. The ‘act of refusing to work,’ meaning the right to strike (the right to collective action) is a right guaranteed by the Constitution, and compensation for damages caused by the strike itself cannot be demanded. This is because holding responsibility for damages that would have occurred as a result of a peaceful strike is same as disadvantaging the strike itself. Only illegal acts during the strike, such as destroying facilities or acts that are an abuse of the right to strike, can be claimed for damages. The problem is that the current regulations and precedents on ‘the abuse of the right to strike’ are too unfavorable to the workers. Under the current law, the court may judge that atypical strikes are illegal, including collective bargaining and action by subcontract workers, strikes without union resolution, refusal to work, slowdown, law-abiding struggle, workplace occupation, etc. In contrast, the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association has observed that even non-typical forms of industrial action should be protected as long as they are peaceful,528) and even in the final opinion of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2017) on the 4th report of Korea, concerns were expressed over the limited legal strike requirements that effectively hinder the exercise of the right to strike in Korea, retaliation against workers, such as civil claims for damages, and ‘essential services’ that prohibit strikes are excessive. If a claim for damages of a huge amount is made against individual union members for strikes by a trade union that does not involve violence or destruction, there is a concern that the three labor rights will be substantially violated, and it carries a tremendous suffering to the workers and their families. According to a recent study by the National Assembly Legislative Research Service, although there are damage compensation systems for strikes in other major countries, but in reality, there are not many cases in which compensation for 528) International Labour Organization, Digest, para. 545.“Regarding various types of strike action denied to workers (wild-cat strikes, tools-down, go-slow, working to rule and sit-down strikes), the Committee considers that these restrictions may be justified only if the strike ceases to be peaceful.” 218