By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter

A group comprised of government employees' unions said Monday it will issue a joint statement this week against the Lee Myung-bak administration despite warnings against the move.

The three unions ㅡ the Korean Government Employees' Union, the Korea Democracy Government Employees' Union and the Korean Court Employees' Union ㅡ have 130,000 members in total.

``The statement will include concerns over the rollback of democracy in Korea. It will also demand changes to key policies the Lee administration has been pursuing,'' a union leader said.

The statement will be the group's first collective action since the three were merged in late May.

The move comes days after the progressive Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union (KTU) issued a statement against the Lee administration, signed by 17,189 members, whose names were also released.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said it may take disciplinary measures against teachers who signed the statement.

``We need to review whether the statement is regarded as a political action or not,'' a Ministry of Public Administration and Security official said. ``If the joint statement is considered a political act, it will be subject to punishment.''

Seoul City recently revised its rules on disciplinary action, suspending city employees if they leave work to take part in group activities. However, the government did not punish employees who joined a declaration opposing beef imports from the United States last June.

President Lee has recently said that he plans to announce ``fundamental solutions'' to tackle escalating social conflict. It remains unclear what those steps will be.

meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr