Civil servants banned from collectively opposing gov't policies

SEOUL, Nov. 24 (Yonhap) -- Government employees, including unionized public
workers, will be banned by law from collectively opposing government policies
beginning next month, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said
Tuesday.
The Cabinet meeting approved a revision of the law on civil servants'
obligations, banning them from any collective anti-government activities and
statements or wearing anti-government slogans while on duty, ministry officials
said.
According to the revision set to take effect on Dec. 1, civil servants are not
allowed to collectively criticize the government or interfere with policy
planning and law enforcement under the name of a labor union or other forms of
groups.
The legal revision appears intended to weaken the influence of an integrated
civil employees union, tentatively called the Korean Government Employees' Union
(KGEU).
The KGEU, which recently came into being as the result of a merger of three
separate public workers' unions, is scheduled to be formally launched early next
month with an estimated membership of 160,000 workers.
The merger, as well as a decision by the KGEU in September to join a militant
labor umbrella group, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, have enraged the
government of President Lee Myung-bak. Refusing to acknowledge the KGEU as a
legal labor union, the labor and public administration ministries have repeatedly
warned the unionized civil workers not to engage in any political or
anti-government activities.
On Monday, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced a decision to dismiss the
chief of the KGEU for taking part in an anti-government rally in July.
"It is a violation of basic human rights," a KGEU official said, criticizing the
latest legal revision. "We will oppose the government policy under the name of
the union and participate in KCTU-led rallies."
brk@yna.co.kr
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