Incheon International Airport Turned into a Battlefield of Party B

Security Screening Staff Direct Employment Sparks Opposition from Regular Workers' Union, Transition Candidates Also 'Anxious'

On the 18th, the departure hall of Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport was deserted due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as the aviation industry, hit hard by COVID-19, faces severe layoffs. Photo by Mun Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Je-hoon] Incheon International Airport, the gateway to South Korea, has turned into a battleground for the underdogs. This follows the decision by Incheon International Airport Corporation to convert approximately 1,900 non-regular security screening personnel into security guards and directly employ them as regular workers.

◆The Spreading War of the Underdogs = On the 25th at 4 p.m., the labor union of Incheon International Airport Corporation will hold a public press conference in front of the Blue House in Jongno-gu, Seoul, regarding the push for direct employment of passenger security screening personnel. They criticized, "The corporation ignored the agreement on regular employment, which was hard-won over two and a half years between non-regular and regular workers last February, and unilaterally announced the direct employment (regularization) without any explanation to anyone." The Incheon Airport Corporation labor union also plans to file a constitutional complaint, arguing that this decision infringes on the 'equal rights' of existing regular employees and job seekers.

Some of the security screening personnel targeted for direct employment are also experiencing significant anxiety. Those who joined after May 12, 2017, when President Moon Jae-in announced the 'Zero Non-Regular Workers' policy, are representative of this group. They must undergo a competitive selection process including document screening → personality test → National Competency Standards (NCS) and job knowledge evaluation → interview.

Their concern is that some candidates may be eliminated during this process. The number subject to competitive recruitment is about 800, which is 40% of the total direct employment candidates. It is reported that in other public institutions, a considerable number of candidates for direct employment were eliminated during aptitude and personality tests. Gong Min-cheon, chairman of the Incheon Airport Security Screening Service Union, pointed out, "There is no concrete information on how the recruitment test will be conducted or what employment retention measures will be prepared for those who fail." Additionally, there is considerable dissatisfaction among other job groups pursuing regular employment through subsidiaries.

◆Confusion Over the Transition Policy Sparks Trouble = Experts believe that despite the bold decision to regularize about 1,900 workers, dissatisfaction persists because of unclear government guidelines on regularization and the hasty policy implementation by Incheon Airport Corporation, which exacerbated the problems.

Since the declaration of zero non-regular workers on May 12, 2017, Incheon Airport Corporation held three labor-management-expert councils to discuss the regular employment policy. In February, after much difficulty, they finally agreed to temporarily assign security screening personnel to a subsidiary, considering the limitations of current laws. Under the current Security Services Act, if security screening personnel are directly employed, their status as special security guards would be revoked, potentially creating gaps in Incheon Airport's security system. Therefore, the plan was to proceed with direct employment after legal amendments and other processes.

However, ahead of the June 30 deadline for completing regularization, Incheon Airport Corporation suddenly decided to directly employ security screening personnel as security guards. Each party claims there was insufficient dialogue and explanation between labor and management during this process. Roh Kwang-pyo, director of the Korea Labor and Society Institute, pointed out, "Regarding the agreement at the end of 2017 to directly employ about 3,000 people, Incheon Airport Corporation did not consistently make efforts to implement it or to persuade each party. During this process, trust was broken and conflicts intensified."

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