Illegal union act

The labor union of civil servants yesterday attempted to hold an illegal meeting of representatives for a no-confidence vote against the president. As the police blocked them, the union members didn’t succeed in holding the meeting. Even the labor sector expressed concern over the act of unionized civil servants who seem to have forgotten their identity and position. The union cited three reasons for pursuing a no-confidence vote against the president. They are: the president’s push for a beef deal with the United States, reforms in the national pension scheme for civil workers and restructuring in the public sector without the people’s consensus. The union says it couldn’t overlook the situation and therefore it wanted to hold a no-confidence vote against the president on behalf of the people.

Even if the Civil Workers’ Union passes the no-confidence vote, it is not legally binding. Nonetheless, one is taken aback to see civil workers try to impeach their employer because of their discontent about his policies. Unionized civil workers are civil workers before they are union members. As servants of the people, civil workers are obliged to be loyal to the president because the president is the chief administrator. Attempting to impeach the president through a vote is the same as going against the people’s will. That is why the Labor Act bans the Civil Workers’ Union from carrying out political acts or collective action.

We can concede and suppose that the Civil Workers’ Union has freedom for political acts. Even so, their arguments are not good reasons for their strike. Importing U.S. beef has nothing to do with civil workers’ working conditions. Everyone understands that they use the issue, in the name of public health, to stop reforms in the national pension program for civil workers and restructuring in the public sector.

The government must severely punish those responsible for the incident to discipline civil workers and to protect law and order. The collective act by the civil servants’ union broke the law in a narrow sense. But it also broke the Constitution in a broader sense. Attempting to execute a right to impeach the president, which is accountable only to the people and the National Assembly, must not be taken lightly. Those civil workers who use the people as an excuse to protect their positions must disappear. Such civil workers shouldn’t be fed with taxpayer money. If we don’t do anything about the Civil Workers’ Union’s illegal act, we won’t be able to carry out reforms in the public sector.