The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) accused the government of issuing a one-sided notice that bypassed labor-government consultations when it announced plans to restructure and relocate state-run institutions.
In a statement on the 3rd, the KCTU said the announcement covered matters "with a significant impact on the future of the public sector and on services to the public, and had been under discussion through labor-government consultations." The umbrella union added that the announcement "was made without sufficient opportunity to review and share its contents with the labor community in advance," and said it condemned the move.
The KCTU pointed to problems that emerged when the first round of relocation and consolidation of state-run institutions proceeded under a previous administration without adequate social consensus. "Problems such as a decline in the quality of public services, the departure of skilled personnel and weakened organizational capacity appeared," the group said. "More than a decade after the institutions were relocated, living conditions including health care, transportation, education and housing have yet to improve sufficiently, and the aftereffects of the mergers remain."
To minimize such problems in the second round of relocation and consolidation, the KCTU said, a working-level labor-government consultative body was formed and the labor community presented in good faith, over several meetings, its basic principles on mergers and functional reform. "The labor community's consistent position was that policy should be reviewed in a direction that raises the quality of public services for citizens and guarantees the rights of public sector workers," the group said. "We conveyed our concern that these consultations should not be a formality, and the government also said it would listen to the voices of the labor community."
But because the announcement followed a procedure in which a meeting of the Public Institution Steering Committee led directly to statements by the prime minister and ministers, the union said there was no time for prior consultation with labor. "The day before, the government proposed holding a separate labor-government consultation with the two umbrella labor groups and their joint public sector committees immediately before the prime minister's announcement," the KCTU said. "We could not attend because this was judged to be a formal gesture to claim the government's announcement had obtained the labor community's consent, and we express regret over an announcement made without sufficient discussion and review with the labor community beforehand."
The KCTU urged that parts of the government plan requiring supplementation be adjusted and improved through substantive labor-government consultation. "Concrete pledges and substantive measures on job security and the upward standardization of working conditions must be prepared together," the group said. "Based on stronger public accountability and employment stability, the government's plan must be carried out responsibly through substantive labor-government consultation and reviewed afterward."
