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Editorial in today's Hankyoreh:

On KCTU and Lee government’s next steps 
 

The Korean Government Employees’ Union (KGEU), the Korean Democracy Government Employees’ Union (KDGEU) and the Court Government Employees’ Union (CGEU) have decided to merge and join the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). An estimated 89.6 percent of the total union membership voted to merge the three unions together, and 68.4 percent voted to join the KCTU. The vote began on Sept. 21 and took place over a period of two days. The voting results stand in defiance of pressure from the Lee administration and the ruling Grand National Party (GNP) that had taken the form of threatening statements prior to the vote. It would not be an overstatement to view the result as an expression of the unionists’ keenly felt need to unify and act in solidarity.

Ultimately, the decision to join the KCTU is more striking than the decision to unify. This is because since the beginning of this year, a significant number of unions have fled the KCTU, and the Lee government’s assault on the KCTU has reached a higher intensity than ever. Why would civil servants, who are viewed as being relatively conservative, join the KCTU? Perhaps the main reason is opposition against the current government’s openly anti-union policies, and among those, the pressure for structural adjustment that disproportionately affects civil servants. The current ruling government has pushed civil servants into a corner while promoting business efficiency, as if the government was managing a corporation and could neglect the public nature of government bodies. One could easily predict that the unhappiness and hostility towards this trend would be greater among lower-ranking civil servants.

The Lee government, however, does not appear to be at all ready to reflect on the significance of the government employees’ decision to join the KCTU. Instead, the Lee administration and GNP fired off an assortment of threatening statements prior to the vote. They even heaped scorn on the civil servant unions and said they could become an organ of the KCTU leadership if they joined the umbrella union. There has been no change in the attitude of the Lee government since the results of the vote came in. Yesterday, related ministers, including the Minister of Public Administration and Security, issued a joint statement attacking the KCTU and civil servant unions. They did not hesitate to make statements aimed at causing internal fissures in the union by claiming concern that the many civil servants who had engaged in union activity in good faith would be hurt by the vote’s results. The government’s action certainly does not legitimate their right to speak about rational labor-management relations through dialogue and compromise. This is not an attitude that would have been unless its true goal is to render the unions powerless. The Lee government should reflect on its actions in order to appropriately determine who is responsible for the continuing deterioration in labor-management relations.

Meanwhile, we hope that the KCTU uses the government employees’ unions’ votes to merge and come under its umbrella as an opportunity to reflect. It must not forget that a confederation that seeks to create a world in which the laborer becomes an owner must facilitate a situation where a member organization is also an owner.

http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_editorial/378456.html

A collection of related articles you'll find here (LabourStart)!