Federation of Government Employees’ Unions: “Abolishing the Public Officials’ Organizations Division Cuts Off Communication”

Criticism of Government's Efficiency Justification
Concerns Over Regression in Labor-Management Relations for Public Officials

As the Ministry of the Interior and Safety is pushing to disperse the functions of the ‘Public Officials’ Organizations Division’ across multiple departments and abolish the division itself, the Federation of Government Employees’ Unions (the Federation) has strongly opposed what it calls the government’s unilateral organizational restructuring.

The Federation stated, “This measure is not simply about efficiency; it is about eliminating the institutional channel for dialogue with public officials’ unions.” The Federation further criticized, “If the official communication channel between the government and public officials’ organizations disappears, it will lead to a regression in labor-management relations.”

The ‘Partial Amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Organization of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and Its Affiliated Agencies,’ which was pre-announced for legislation by the Ministry on November 6, includes provisions to divide the functions of the Public Officials’ Organizations Division among other departments and to abolish the division-level organization.

The Federation pointed out, “The Public Officials’ Organizations Division was in fact the only official institutional channel for consultation between the government and public officials’ unions.” They added, “If this is dismantled, the voices of public officials on the ground will be excluded from the policy-making process, and the entity responsible for these matters will become ambiguous.” The Federation continued, “If, as the government claims, the aim is efficiency, then strengthening the dialogue system should come first. However, this plan will actually reduce communication,” and added, “It also contradicts the ‘labor-respecting society’ principle that the Lee Jaemyung administration has emphasized.”

The Federation asserted, “The public officials’ union is a legally guaranteed organization and a key partner in civil service reform. Abolishing the dedicated department is tantamount to declaring that the government will not sit at the table with the union.”

The Federation also called on the government to halt the move to abolish the Public Officials’ Organizations Division and to reconsider the direction of related institutional reforms through consultation with public officials’ organizations. They warned, “If our demand is not accepted, we will launch a campaign together with government employees’ unions nationwide to restore normal labor-management relations and communication.”

The Federation emphasized, “Labor-management relations for public officials are not a matter of efficiency, but of trust and respect. If the government truly wants to bring change to the civil service, it should open up more channels for communication, not close them.”

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