KGEU Has Been Driven to the Edge

The Korean Government Employees Union (KGEU), which decided to give up conducting a strike vote, will launch a nationwide walkout next Monday. The government reaffirmed its stance that it would dismiss any public officials who join the strike. Therefore, conflict between two parties is expected to invite large-scale dismissals.

At a press conference on Wednesday at the union’s headquarters in Seoul, the KGEU said, “Our union members are unable to express their opinions freely by the authorities’ forceful measures and have been being arrested by them. Thus, we are halting the voting. Regardless of the result of the vote, we are going to go on a nationwide strike next Monday following the unanimous vote at a August meeting of the board of representatives, the highest legislative body of the union,” it revealed.

KGEU leader Kim Young-gil reassured, saying, “Even under a government crackdown, we will carry on our struggle for a successful nationwide walkout in order to secure full labor rights. In our effort to minimize the general public’s inconvenience, union members who belong to utility (water supply and drainage service), janitor and public health center services will continue to work as usual during the walkout,” he said.

The members of the KGEU will work to rule, which means refusing to perform ordinary administrative services for the public during lunchtime, and starting and finishing the day exactly on time from Thursday to Saturday. On Sunday, they will join a labor rally in downtown Seoul being organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.

At an urgent news conference on Monday at the Central Government Complex, Gwon O-ryong, the vice minister of the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs said, “Every civil servant who would not join the rally but is absent from work in order to participate in the strike will be dismissed or legally punished.”

The ministry ordered local governments not to allow their workers to take annual or sick leave around next Monday, a scheduled day of the strike, so that it can stop union members from joining the walkout during their vacation.

At a government mediation conference on pending issues presided over by Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, Seoul decided to take every possible measure to keep public order and impose stern measures on any illegal activities regarding the weekend rally which farming organizations, the KGEU, and the KCTU have threatened to organize.

Until Monday, the police have been looking for seven of the union’s 37 executive members with warrants for their arrest. It said it is processing the issuance of warrants for the arrest of 30 other members. After issuing warrants, the police are planning to round up the union’s executive members who have not complied with a subpoena.

Meanwhile, the Yeongdong Community Association, consisting of four economic organizations from North Chungcheong Province and roughly 30 social organizations from Gangwon province, held a separate press conference and demanded the KGEU scrap its plan. In its statement, the Public Officials’ Council at the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs also urged the KGEU to stop its strike and go back to their jobs.