The joint countermeasures committee of labor unions in the public sector under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) held a rally in downtown Seoul on the 4th to demand improvements to the aggregates payroll system and other measures.
The joint committee held a "public workers all-out struggle resolution rally" on the afternoon of the 4th around Sejong-daero in Jung-gu, Seoul. They demanded: ▲ establishment of a public institution remuneration committee ▲ improvement of the aggregates payroll system ▲ expansion of public jobs ▲ a halt to unilateral mergers and closures of institutions.
About 15,000 people took part in the rally. With the daytime high in Seoul at 29 degrees and the heat index peaking around 31 degrees, participants held fans printed with phrases such as "Open labor-government talks" and "Stop one-way traffic" instead of placards.
Chanting "Hold labor-government talks," they argued that the Act on the Management of Public Institutions should be revised to establish a public institution remuneration committee, and that workers in the public sector should be able to discuss working conditions directly with the government.
They also argued that the aggregates payroll system—under which central ministries and public institutions run their organizations and staffing within a set total payroll amount—blocks negotiations and therefore must be improved as well.
They also shouted the slogan "We refuse one-way traffic," and argued against relocating public institutions to the provinces. Jeong Eun-ju, chairperson of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions unit at The Export-Import Bank of Korea, criticized the policy, saying, "The policy of dispersing Seoul's financial industry to the provinces does not revive regional economies outside the capital area but instead annihilates Korea's financial industry."