Public Officials Labor Union Jeonnam Federation Launches Major National Assembly Struggle

"Organize the National Assembly Election Management Budget to Comply with the Minimum Wage"

The Jeonnam Federation of Public Officials Labor Unions (hereinafter Jeonnam Provincial Office, Damyang-gun, Boseong-gun, Yeonggwang-gun, Hwasun-gun, Wando-gun, Jangheung-gun, Sinan-gun) is protesting the election management budget prepared by the government and will launch a large-scale struggle at the National Assembly from the 13th, demanding an increase in the budget to meet the minimum wage.

According to the Jeonnam Federation, the main point of this struggle is that the 130,000 KRW allowance for polling station staff, prepared by the government for managing the 22nd National Assembly election next year, is far below the 2024 hourly minimum wage and should be raised accordingly.

Looking at the budget prepared by the government for election management in 2024, the allowances are 190,000 KRW for election management supervisors, 130,000 KRW for polling station staff, 75,000 KRW for counting staff, and 100,000 KRW for election observers. Among these, polling station staff work 14 hours but receive only 130,000 KRW, whereas election observers work 6 hours and receive 100,000 KRW, raising concerns about fairness.

On the 12th, one day before the 7th nationwide local elections, election management committee staff and polling workers are setting up the polling station at Dobong 2-dong Community Center in Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The Central Election Commission recognized this issue in advance and commissioned a research project titled “Study on Improvement Measures for Election Management Systems for Stable Election Management” to the Korean Political Science Association in November 2022.

This research report concluded that securing personnel to carry out election duties, which are central to procedural democracy, is essential, and that allowances must be paid at least in accordance with the minimum wage. Based on the 2023 minimum wage, the report calculated that election management supervisors should be paid 240,000 KRW, polling station staff 180,000 KRW, and counting staff 100,000 KRW.

The National Assembly also recognized the problem, and lawmakers Cho Eung-cheon, Jeon Jae-su, and Jeong Hee-yong each proposed amendments to the Public Official Election Act to raise election staff allowances, but all remain pending in the standing committee.

Park Kyung-min, chairman of the Jeonnam Federation, stated, “Recently, election work has become a task to avoid due to frequent complaints caused by ongoing allegations of election fraud and the perception that it is labor without proper compensation for long hours on holidays. If there are election observers who watch the election process for 6 hours at the same polling station and receive 100,000 KRW, and polling station staff who suffer from complaints and work 14 hours but receive only 130,000 KRW, what would one choose?” He demanded the preparation of an election work budget that aligns with the minimum wage and fairness.

During the struggle period, each unit union under the Jeonnam Federation plans to intensify public relations efforts, including meetings with local lawmakers, delivering statements, local newspaper coverage, and SNS relay promotions.

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