Police, Firefighters, and Driving Public Officials' Workplace Council to Launch in June

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 12th that with the revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Public Officials Workplace Council Act, workplace councils for police, fire, and driving personnel will be launched on the 11th of next month.

Until now, police officers below the rank of police inspector, including the Korea Coast Guard, fire officers below the rank of fire captain, and public officials engaged in driving duties for agency heads' exclusive vehicles, who were previously prohibited from joining workplace councils, will now be allowed to join.

Also, whereas previously the agency head was required to announce positions or duties prohibited from joining workplace councils such as command and supervision, personnel, budget, security, and confidentiality, going forward, the agency head and the council will consult in advance to designate and announce these.

When fire, police, and driving public officials form workplace councils and join the Public Officials Workplace Council, the overall scale of the Public Officials Workplace Council is expected to increase significantly from about 136 institutions with approximately 24,000 members as of May this year to about 700 institutions with 170,000 members.

The newly joining personnel are estimated to be about 85,000 police officers, 50,000 fire officers, and 10,000 driving personnel.

The revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Public Officials Workplace Council Act was passed by the National Assembly last December, reflecting on-site voices that emphasized the need to improve the poor working conditions and resolve grievances of police and fire personnel who protect the lives of the people.

Yoon Jong-in, Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "By allowing police officers including the Korea Coast Guard and fire officers to join workplace councils, we expect it to become a practical communication channel to resolve the grievances and improve the working conditions of the hidden heroes working hard on the front lines." He added, "We will actively support the activation of workplace councils on site through work manuals, guidelines, education, and system improvements."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.