New Moderate Gov`t Workers` Union Set for Launch

A large union of public servants to represent moderates will be launched as early as the end of this year.

The chairmen of the Korea Federation of Government Employees (77,000 members), the Korea Federation of Local Government Employees (13,000), and the Korea Federation of Education Office Employees (23,000) agreed to merge their three groups at the local employees federation’s building in Seoul Tuesday morning.

They will divide the integrated union into four organizations and form an integration committee as soon as possible to determine measures and the integration process. The combined membership of the three unions is an estimated 113,000.

The figure is similar to that of the Korean Government Employees’ Union, the largest of its kind in the country, with an estimated 130,000.

If the three federations are integrated, public servants will belong to either the Korean Government Employees’ Union or the newly integrated union in a situation similar to the aftermath of the split between the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions.

Unlike its rival, the integrated public servants’ union will have no umbrella organization.

sys1201@donga.com