War clouds hang low over the labor front, now that unionized government employees have joined the progressive, anti-government umbrella organization.
As soon as they voted to unite into one and enter into the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) Tuesday, the leaders of the three government employee unions said, ``We are now here to bring about justice on the Lee Myung-bak administration." The government countered with a joint statement of three Cabinet ministers, calling the civil servant unions' joining the professed anti-government KCTU as ``inappropriate" and pledging to ``sternly deal with" any activities violating laws or breaching the union's duty to keep political neutrality.
Their exchange of announcements apparently went way beyond simple forestalling jabs to virtual declarations of all-out war, adding more gloom to the notoriously hostile relationship between government and labor in this country.
Most of all, it should be noted that the labor unions' move to become members of a higher organization is perfectly legal, so the government's intervention is unjustifiable. Officials say they oppose it because KCTU is a ``politicized" group, but they had better be more frank if they want to avoid criticism about double standards or ignoring the principle of equity.
This is in part because these officials remained silent when other, smaller civil servant unions acceded to the pro-government Federation of Korean Trade Unions, and because a politically-neutral group is supposed to neither support nor oppose the government.
The government's belligerent response is based on its hasty conclusion that the public servants would ride on KCTU's clout to stage collective actions, which is prohibited by law. These concerns may not be entirely groundless in view of these unions' track records, but more likely prove to be a self-fulfilling prophesy; the government will have only to wait and see and take due legal steps if and when its employees violate laws.
It's this prejudice and unnecessary hostility that aggravates the nation's already problematic industrial peace, which is ranked almost at the bottom by various international surveys.
One can no longer tell which side is more responsible for what has now become a chicken-and-egg question. If there is one undeniable fact, however, it is that the nation's global ranking in industrial peace is in exact proportion to its dismal labor standards falling far short of what has been recommended by International Labor Organization. For instance, the ILO recognizes multiple unions in one company and the right to strike for government employees, both of which are lacking in this country.
True, some leaders in Korea's backwards labor movement deserve criticism, not least because of the imbalance between their rights and obligations. But equally ― if not more ― problematic is the Establishment's deeply-rooted prejudice on unionism, citing the nation's peculiar situation of being a late bloomer in industrialization.
Still, a country's unique circumstances should be no reason to justify its outdated systems and practices, thus defending the vested interests of the Establishment.
Many Korean leaders seem to abhor the word ``labor" itself like a creepy insect, but current governing parties in Britain and the United States are either labor parties or based on labor unions. Not long after his inauguration, U.S. President Barack Obama called in union leaders and said, ``I want you to know that you will always have a seat at the table."
It's hard to know what President Lee means by his ``care for the working-class people," when his administration is so harsh on unions.