Civil servant and teacher labor unions held a large-scale downtown rally on the 11th calling for real wage increases and better treatment.
The Joint Struggle Committee to secure the right to livelihood for civil servants and teachers, made up of the National Government Employees' Union, the Korea Government Employees' Union Confederation, and the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU), held the "July 11 civil servants and teachers workers' rally" at about 1:30 p.m. on a road near Sungnyemun in Jung-gu, Seoul.
According to the organizers, about 14,000 people took part in the rally. Despite the heat wave, they held placards reading "Bank account balances eat away at a sense of duty," "Civil servants are also people; guarantee basic political rights," and "Pension immediately upon retirement," and chanted slogans such as "Guarantee civil servants' right to livelihood."
Lee Hae-jun, Chairperson of the National Government Employees' Union, said, "I offer words of comfort to comrades who were hurt and suffered due to the June 3 local elections work," and added, "We will fight to change the election system that unilaterally shifts responsibility and pain onto lower-ranked civil servants."
He went on, "Whenever the country has been in danger, it has always been our civil servants who stepped up first," and said, "Let's unite and stand together to the end for a 7.1% civil servant wage increase in 2027 and wage an all-out struggle."
Kim U-jeong, Secretary-General of the Imsil County Government Employees' Union under the Korea Government Employees' Union Confederation, said, "How was it in the last election? Didn't they push off all sorts of election administration problems and forcibly mobilize us for a while with cheap allowances that didn't even reach the hourly minimum wage?" and added, "The pre-sale price of an apartment in a nearby city is 600 million won, and even if you only breathe and save every paycheck in full, it takes more than 17 years."
The committee emphasized that the low-wage structure and excessive workloads are leading to an outflow of talent and more retirements, saying next year's pay raises and the realistic adjustment of various allowances are necessary. The rally also saw calls to address income gaps in civil service pensions and to extend the retirement age.
There were also calls to protect teachers' authority and improve teachers' treatment. Park Young-hwan, Chairperson of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU), said, "The drama 'True Education' was popular. No one would agree to violent solutions, but it is clear the situation on the ground is at a threshold. Solve the problems of malicious civil complaints and child abuse reports."