KCTU faces a tough year ahead

Posted on : 2010-01-05 11:24 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST

Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) officials maintain grave expressions during the kick-off ceremony for the new year at their office building located in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo neighborhood, Jan. 4.

The ruling Grand National Party’s passage of a labor law amendment bill at dawn Jan. 1 presents the KCTU with a new set of challenges. The labor law revision’s ban on payments to full-time unionists becomes effective in July. In addition, on the same day, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology mete out disciplinary measures to 89 members of the Korean Teachers & Educational Workers’ Union (KTU, Jeon Gyo Jo), including the dismissal of 14 teachers cited for participation in the public release of a second emergency declaration in July 2009. The first emergency declaration issued in June had criticized the Lee administration’s educational policies and an estimated 28,600 teachers endorsed the second emergency declaration.

Photo by Kim Tae-hyung/The Hankyoreh