Will Election Office Operations for Next Year's Presidential and Local Elections in Gangnam-gu Face Disruptions?

Gangnam-gu Office Integrated Union Appeals Inequality of Only Local Officials Mobilized for Elections at Gangnam District Election Commission on Seolleung-ro at 10 AM on the 16th, Announces De Facto Non-Participation in 2022 Major Elections (Presidential, Local)

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The Gangnam-gu Office Integrated Labor Union visited the Gangnam-gu Election Commission on Seolleung-ro at 10 a.m. on the 16th to appeal against the inequality of only local government officials being mobilized for elections, and notified their effective non-participation in the two major elections of 2022 (presidential and local elections).

Although the Election Commission could have appointed election workers and staff from national (local) government officials, teachers, banks, and public institutions during elections, they have forcibly mobilized only local government officials without proper compensation, simply because they are familiar with election duties and easy to manage.

They pointed out that over the past two years, local government officials have been heavily burdened with frontline duties such as self-quarantine, epidemiological investigations, and quarantine work due to COVID-19, often mobilized every other day beyond their primary responsibilities, yet this has been overlooked. Now, only powerless local government officials are being forced into election duties that require more than 16 hours of continuous work.

The Gangnam-gu Election Commission is reportedly trying to disperse the number of personnel mobilized for election duties by sending official letters here and there, but with no proper improvements in current allowances, special leave, or external outsourcing, voluntary participation from outside seems impossible.

Accordingly, the Gangnam-gu Integrated Public Officials Labor Union plans to begin an indefinite refusal of election duties together with the ‘Korean Federation of Public Officials Labor Unions’ if the Gangnam-gu Election Commission does not show efforts by the 21st to fairly allocate election personnel, realize allowances, and improve various systems such as special leave.

On the 9th, chairpersons of basic local government branches belonging to the Public Officials Federation gathered at the Korean Federation of Trade Unions office in Yeouido to hold a fundamental countermeasure meeting regarding the semi-coercive mobilization of local government officials by the Election Commission, and adopted a resolution to “return the operation of public elections to the people.”

Im Seong-cheol, head of the Seoul branch of the Integrated Public Officials Labor Union, stated, “The unfair handling by the Election Commission, which mobilizes only local government officials for election duties that should be the most democratic, deserves condemnation. Although forced mobilization without consent is not a new issue, Gangnam-gu Office officials will not participate in the 2022 election duties until there is change in the election work system that has not improved since 2000.”

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