Multiple Construction Union Officials Transferred for Embezzling Funds Under the Name of Collective Agreement Fees

The labor union executives and members who extorted tens of millions of won under the name of collective agreement fees from construction managers while roaming apartment construction sites in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions have been handed over to the prosecution.

The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crime Investigation Division 2 of the Jeonnam Police Agency announced on the 25th that they have sent 51 individuals related to the construction labor union (4 of whom were detained) to the prosecution on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (joint extortion).

From early 2020 to the end of the following year, they formed a union and roamed construction sites in the eastern Gwangju and Jeonnam areas, extorting approximately 141 million won from 13 construction sites.

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To pressure construction companies, they wore vests printed with the labor union’s name and used several broadcast vehicles equipped with loudspeakers to visit apartment construction sites, blatantly demanding money under the pretext of requesting employment for union members, saying “Give us the collective agreement fee (danhyeopbi).”

In particular, if the construction officials did not pay, they pressured them by holding rallies while playing labor songs loudly through broadcast vehicles at the entrance of the construction sites, taking photos of minor violations at the site, or engaging in acts such as checking for illegal stay of foreign workers and threatening to report them.

Police investigations confirmed that construction officials repeatedly found themselves in situations where they had no choice but to pay the demanded amounts to minimize losses caused by construction delays.

The executive committee operated the union mainly with the money received from construction companies and is known to have pocketed most of the extorted collective agreement fees among themselves, unrelated to union activities, thus filling only the executives’ pockets under the guise of union activities.

The Jeonnam Police Agency stated, “We will continue to conduct thorough crackdowns and investigations on organized illegal activities such as extortion and violence at construction sites, make every effort to eradicate such organized illegal acts, actively protect victims so they can report safely, and strictly punish retaliatory crimes.”

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