3 workers’ unions planning to merge into one

Although the biggest labor union for civil servants has been the Korean Government Employees’ Union, with officially around 80,000 members, three lesser government employee unions are consolidating to form a new union nearly as big as the Korean Government Employees’ Union.

The Federation of Government Employees’ Union, with around 41,700 members; the United Municipal Education Civil Servants’ Union, with around 23,400 members; and the Federation of Local Government Employees’ Union, with around 10,600 members, will form a new joint union, with around 75,700 members.

The leaders of the three federations held a conference on Tuesday and decided to complete the merger.

“We have agreed on consolidating the three federations by the end of this year,” said Choi Jang-yun, head of the strategic planning department at the Federation of Government Employees’ Union. “We’ll soon form special committees to deal with the specifics of the merger.”

The three federations have been working to form a joint union since February, but negotiating and reconciling ideas took almost six months.

The Korean Government Employees’ Union became the biggest union after consolidating with the Korean Democracy Government Employees’ Union and the Court Government Employees’ Union last year.

The new union will be different from the Korean Government Employees’ Union in that it will stay neutral in its political stance. The Korean Government Employees’ Union often carries out protests against the government.

By Kim Sang-woo [enational@joongang.co.kr]