City Councilor Kim Jong-gil: "Seoul Metro Union Did Not Attend Work but Collected Up to 84.9 Billion Won in Salaries"

Numerous Cases of Construction Time-Off with All Members Part-Time or Not Coming to Work but Still Receiving Pay... Evidence of Employer's Awareness and Tolerance, No Attendance Management to Verify Actual Work Attendance

According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor's survey on the actual status of the working hours exemption system, it has been revealed that Seoul Transportation Corporation has been operating nearly ten times the legally permitted limit of exempted personnel. It is estimated that the salaries paid to union officials who did not come to work illegally, outside of the lawful time off, amounted to up to 84.9 billion KRW over five years.

According to data submitted by Seoul Transportation Corporation to Kim Jong-gil (People Power Party, Yeongdeungpo 2), a member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council's Transportation Committee, all 315 exempted personnel at the corporation are part-time, but many union officials have been found to not come to work at all while still receiving monthly salaries and allowances.

Union official A from the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) reportedly did not come to work while assigned at Yaksu Station, and colleagues testified that he was rarely seen at his previous workplace, Seoul Station.

Union official B from the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), who works at Jamsilnaru Station, is also said to rarely come to the company. Additionally, there have been cases where clothing and bedding provided by the company have remained unopened for three years since May 2020 because the officials never showed up at their workplaces.

There are even suspicions that the corporation knowingly tolerated this. Additional personnel were assigned to the work shifts to which these union officials belong, and it has been pointed out that the management accommodated the union officials by considering that they did not actually participate in work.

Attendance management regarding whether the exempted personnel actually came to work during working hours outside of time off was not conducted at all.

In fact, numerous posts on the corporation’s internal bulletin board demand correction of union officials falsely claiming to be full-time representatives while not coming to work.

One corporation employee appealed, “Not only is time off not properly observed, but since they do not come to work at all, the shift has one extra person or a social service agent is added,” and urged, “Measures must be taken to address the work gaps caused by illegal time off.”

Over the past five years, the corporation has ostensibly paid 4.0121 billion KRW to cover the salaries of exempted personnel. However, considering the situation within the corporation, Kim Jong-gil estimates that in the worst case, wages amounting to 84.9 billion KRW may have been falsely paid.

Currently, the corporation is suffering from chronic financial and manpower shortages due to a surge in labor costs from forced regular employee conversions and the unauthorized introduction of a 4-shift 2-team system, yet the labor and management have been colluding to waste hundreds of billions of won in finances.

Assemblyman Kim Jong-gil pointed out, “Receiving monthly salaries and allowances without coming to work during working hours is clear embezzlement and a criminal act,” emphasizing, “Illegal acts that undermine railway safety and the corporation’s organization must be eradicated and met with appropriate legal action.”

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