Asking for too much

Editorials

Asking for too much

Published: 09 Jul. 2007, 21:40

The draft that the Government Employees’ Union submitted to the government for collective bargaining negotiations over working conditions was revealed yesterday. It contains 362 clauses, starting with demands to increase wages to the level of public corporations and includes requests to increase leave time, raise the retirement age, and not reform the pension system.
There was even a request to allocate 5 million won in historic site tourism fees for public servants who are scheduled to retire. It was only recently that there was a huge scandal regarding public officials who visited Iguazu Falls on a so-called business trip are they out of their minds?
The head of the joint union committee said they have a lot of demands because it is their first negotiation since Korea gained independence from Japan. He said the union’s action should be understood as the first step toward civil servant reform.
It seems that people who live on the government’s taxes like to use the words “reform” or “innovation” whenever they please. Is robbing from people’s pockets reform and innovation? Have they no sense of shame?
This administration has made a kingdom out of government employment. It has made jobs more stable and raised pensions and wages. The number of civil servants has risen by 50,000 and yet it plans to increase it by another 50,000 in the next five years. The rice bowl required to “feed” government employees has only become bigger.
The people are afraid whenever the topic of government employees is brought up, but government employees have no worries because they are not short on money. They can reach into the people’s pockets. Taxpayers may be about to die but civil servants are playing in heaven.
It is no wonder then that when the Seoul Metropolitan City government recruited low-ranking public officials some 140,000 people applied for 1,732 available posts.
Strictly speaking, the government employee labor union should negotiate with the representatives of the people.
The government is negotiating on behalf of the people, but taking into consideration the fact that this administration seems to always back public officials, we are wary about the impact of this negotiation on the public treasury. The government should not be unduly influenced by the Government Employee’s Union.
The union should also revise its draft. The people are watching the negotiations and will most definitely hold it responsible.