The Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union hold a resolution meeting in Seoul on Oct. 5, 2023, ahead of the strike among public service workers set to begin next week. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – Unionized public service workers are set to stage a joint strike next week, in the second collective action since the rail workers’ walkout last month.
The Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union (KPTU) said some 25,000 union workers of four public institutions — the National Health Insurance Service, Busan subway union and two branches of the Korean Health Care Workers’ Trade Union — will join the walkout scheduled to kick off next Wednesday.
The unionized workers have been pressing the government to suspend what they believe is the government’s push to privatize public services, and reduce wage gaps between regular workers and nonregular workers, and raise real wages.
Earlier, the union of public service workers warned of a joint walkout on three occasions from September through November. In September, rail workers went on a four-day general strike.
Separately, unionized call center workers of KB Kookmin Bank, Hana Bank and Hyundai Marine & Fire Insurance launched a strike for the first time Wednesday.
The KPTU also said they will submit additional proof that the government has violated the convention by the International Labour Organization (ILO), which protects the rights of public service workers to organize and collectively bargain.
Last year, the union, along with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, filed a petition to the ILO, saying the government has not stood by its act, despite endorsing the right to organize and collectively bargain in a parliamentary ratification of the conventions in 2021.
(Yonhap)
