정부로부터 법외노조 통보를 받은 전국교직원노동조합(전교조)이 당분간 합법적인 노조의 지위를 유지하게 됐다.
서울행정법원 행정13부(반정우 부장판사)는 13일 전교조가 “법외노조 통보처분의 효력을 정지해달라”며 고용노동부 장관을 상대로 낸 집행정지 신청을 받아들였다고 연합뉴스가 전했다. 이에 따라 전교조가 제기한 본안소송의 1심 판결이 나올 때까지 법외노조 통보의 효력이 정지된다.
재판부는 법외노조 통보의 효력을 계속 유지할 경우 ‘회복하기 어려운 손해’가 발생한다는 전교조의 주장을 대부분 받아들였다.
재판부는 법외노조 통보에 따라 “노동쟁의 조정이나 부당노동행위 구제를 신청할 수 없고 노동조합의 명칭을 사용할 수 없는 점, 전임자가 노조업무에만 종사하기 어려워지는 점 등을 볼 때 실질적으로 노조활동이 상당히 제한될 수밖에 없는 손해를 입게 된다”고 판단했다.
재판부는 그러나 법외노조 통보가 공공복리에 중대한 영향을 미칠 우려가 있다는 주장은 받아들이지 않았다.
고용부는 지난 24일 해직자의 노조가입을 허용하는 규약을 시정하지 않고 있다는 이유로 전교조에 ‘교원노조법상 노동조합으로 보지 않는다’고 통보했다.
전교조는 법외노조 통보의 법률적 근거가 없다며 이 통보를 취소해달라는 소송과 함께 집행정지 신청을 냈다. (헤럴드경제)
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Court nullifies disbandment of teachers’ union
The Seoul Administrative Court on Wednesday temporarily invalidated the government’s decision to deregister the country’s largest teachers’ union last month.
The Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union on Oct 24 filed a lawsuit and preliminary injunction against the Education Ministry’s recent move to deprive it of legal status as a union for refusing a government order to exclude dismissed teachers from its membership.
The court accepted the injunction request, allowing the progressive union to retain its rights.
“This is just a temporary measure until the court makes its first verdict. This (temporarily allowing the union to regain its legal status) does not mean the government’s decision was illegitimate,” Employment and Labor Ministry spokeswoman Park Sung-hee said Wednesday.
The ruling is expected to be made before summer, she added.
It is likely that the court accepted the union’s claim that the decision will damage the KTU members and their activities as a labor union, and also affect mediation in future labor disputes.
“It is not unusual for the court to announce a suspension of execution when a concrete compensation measure has not been found. We respect the court’s decision and will actively defend the government’s position throughout the lawsuit,” Park said.
In March, the ministry ordered the union to amend its constitution to ban dismissed and retired teachers from membership, saying that it violates the country’s labor law.
The KTU resisted against the order for months until the ministry gave an ultimatum to deregister the union unless it changes its constitution by Oct. 23.
The trade union has been staging protests against the ministry and government, saying that depriving its legal status was in “complete ignorance” of human rights, and that authorities are stripping it of the rights it has had for 14 years as a legal union.
By Suk Gee-hyun
(monicasuk@heraldcorp.com)