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Members of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU)’s central executive committee shaved their heads in front of the Blue House on Nov. 1. The union is demanding legal recognition

From Nov. 6 to 8, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) will be having all of its members vote on whether to launch a “full-scale action against the government.” The KTU is demanding that the government recognize it as a legal union and abolish performance bonuses and the instructor assessment system.

“Over the past six months, the Moon Jae-in administration has not taken any steps to reverse the government’s decision to strip the KTU of its legal status as a union, which was one of the serious problems with the Park Geun-hye administration. Following a vote of all union members, we will be carrying out a walkout on Nov. 24,” the KTU said on Nov. 5.

A walkout, in which teachers use their yearly vacation leave to go home early, is the toughest legal form of protest available to the KTU, and it means the union is effectively planning to go on strike. Even when it was a legally recognized union, the KTU only exercised two of the fundamental labor rights (not the right to go on strike) in line with legislation governing the establishment and operation of teachers unions.

Since Moon indicated while running for president that he would restore the KTU’s legal status if elected, the KTU holds that he must keep this campaign pledge. The union is also asking for the abolition of the instructor assessment system and performance bonuses, which were introduced by the administrations of Lee Myung-bak and Roh Moo-hyun, respectively. The government, for its part, is inclined to wait for the Supreme Court to make a decision on a KTU lawsuit asking that the Ministry of Employment and Labor be forced to recognize it as a legal union.

If the motion for full-scale action passes, the KTU will become the first public sector union to take action against the government in the form of a strike under the Moon administration. After the vote, union members are planning to participate in action against the government by using some of their yearly leave on Nov. 24. On Nov. 1, 25 members of the KTU’s central executive committee shaved their hair in a ceremony in front of the Blue house, while KTU Chairman Cho Chang-ik launched a hunger strike.

If the KTU becomes the first public sector union to take action against the government during the Moon presidency, it is likely to face considerable political pushback. The decision to nevertheless hold a union-wide vote appears to be motivated by a sense of desperation, with union members concerned that, if they fail to get a definite promise from the government about restoring the union’s legal status six months into the Moon administration and one year after the candlelit rallies, they might miss their best shot to resolve this issue.

The KTU has been without legal recognition for four years now, since Oct. 2013, during the Park administration. At the time, the Ministry of Employment and Labor stripped the KTU of its legal standing, taking issue with a union rule that recognized nine terminated teachers as union members. The KTU immediately sued the Ministry to restore its legal standing, but its arguments were rejected in district court and on appeal. Since then, the case has been pending at the Supreme Court for more than 500 days.

But while power has changed hands, this issue has yet to be resolved, and the KTU doubts the governments’ commitment to restoring its legal status. During a meeting with KTU executives in July, Deputy Prime Ministry for Social Affairs and Education Minister Kim Sang-gon said that “once the Minister of Employment and Labor takes office, they will lead deliberations between government ministries” to resolve the KTU’s legal status, but there has been no news since then.

“According to the rules, we will have to wait for the Supreme Court’s ruling and make our decision in accordance with that,” said an official with the Ministry of Education.

By Hong Seok-jae and Kim Mi-hyang, staff reporters

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