Teachers' union regains legal status temporarily

By Chung Hyun-chae

The Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTU) regained its status as a legitimate trade union for the time being, following a high court injunction Friday.

The Seoul High Court accepted a request from the union to halt a lower court ruling which stripped the organization of its legal status until an appellate court verdict is handed down.

In October 2013, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said it would no longer consider the KTU a labor union because the organization repeatedly refused to follow a government order to deny membership to fired teachers.

The ministry cited the Teachers’ Union Law that defines teachers as only those working at schools, not people who have been fired or have retired. An exception is fired teachers who appeal their dismissal to the National Labor Relations Commission. They can remain as union members until the commission makes a decision.

The union filed a suit against the ministry at that time, and the lower court ruled in favor of the government.

Accepting the union’s request, the high court also asked the Constitutional Court to review whether the law is constitutional.

“The law, which limits teachers to only working people, may be an excessive limit that infringes on the right to organize,” the court said.

It said many other countries allow union membership for non-incumbent teachers.

“There are some controversial legal issues, so the court decided to grant an injunction,”

Ha Byung-su, spokesman of the KTU, told The Korea Times. “Even if we win in the second round, we cannot reverse all the damages suffered by teachers, including being discharged, unless we retain our legal status.”