By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter


About 3,200 unionized civil servants may face dismissals and arrests for joining a general strike that began across the nation Monday despite the government’s vow to crack down on participants.

The Korean Government Employees’ Union said 44,000 of its 140,000 members participated in the strike, although most chapters backed down from the original plan to join the walkout in the face of negative public sentiment and a government crackdown.



A riot policeman holds a list of Korean Government Employees’ Union members who are under warrants of arrest, as police check a vehicle for the listed members in front of a gate of Hanyang University in Seoul, Monday. Some 300 unionists held a ceremony to launch a strike at the campus./ Korea Times.


The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs estimated more or less 3,200 union members took part in the strike, saying the union’s estimate for the number of participants was overstated.

The ministry said all the participants will be deprived of their posts for violating the law governing ethics code for government employees. It is the first time the government has vowed to conduct a large-scale layoff for government employees since it sacked some 2,000 teachers working to form a teachers’ union in 1989.

The strike began at 9 a.m. but there were no major disruptions to administrative services for the public. The Labor Ministry said local governments have mobilized substitute staff to fill the posts of striking union members. Police said they hauled in 112 striking union members, including 12 leaders of KGEU district offices.

The Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office said all participants in the strike will be dealt with in accordance with the law, saying arrest warrants will be sought for all union leaders.

``All demonstrations by civil servants are illegal and participants deserve strict punishment,’’ prosecutor Ahn Chang-ho said. ``There is no change in our stance. No deals or compromises will be made with striking civil servants.’’

Thousands of riot police were deployed at major government offices and union chapters nationwide early in the morning to prevent possible violence.

The union said officials in charge of public health, water service and cleaning were exempted from the strike to minimize inconvenience to the public. In some areas, citizens complained of delayed service and had to turn back without getting it.

Observers predicted the strike may be brought to an early end as an increasing number of union chapters have decided not to join the strike.

In Pusan, seven of the KGEU’s 18 district offices decided to go back to work in the morning. Members of six chapters in North Cholla Province also refused to participate in the strike.

The KGEU criticized the government for preventing union members from joining the strike by threatening to fire striking union members.

``The government is silencing our voices for labor rights by force,’’ KGEU spokesman Chung Yong-hae said. ``Whatever happens, we will fight for our rights to the last moment. We demand the government accept us as negotiation partners and discuss pending maters in a serious manner.’’

The government has said any collective action by government employees will be subject to punishment. It said those who participate in the strike will be dismissed without exception and will never be reinstated.

The union has opposed four government-initiated labor bills aimed at banning government employees from waging a strike and limiting labor rights of temporary workers.

If the National Assembly passes the bills without changes, the union would have the right to collective bargaining for wages and other employment conditions, but cannot take any collective action such as a strike.

Police have searched the KGEU’s district offices over the last few days and arrested dozens of union members. Two union leaders _ chairman Kim Young-gil and senior official Ahn Byung-soon _ also face arrest.

jj@koreatimes.co.kr