Following the recent death of a Deputy Director in their 30s affiliated with the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment, the public servants' union called for a fact-finding investigation and measures to prevent a recurrence.
The National Union of Government Employees (NUGE) and the Federation of Korean Government Employees' Unions (FKGEU) held a press conference on the 3rd in front of the fountain at the Blue House in Jongno-gu, Seoul, and made this claim.
Eun Jun-gi, head of the climate division at NUGE, said, "This incident is by no means due to personal misfortune or hardship," adding, "It is the result of a vertical and rigid organizational culture, an inept protection system that ignores the victim's voice, and an organizational culture that forces personal sacrifice."
A second-year Deputy Director affiliated with the climate ministry took their own life on the 16th of last month. The Inspector General's Office at the climate ministry is currently looking into whether there was workplace bullying and whether there was excessive work-related stress.
The union argues this is not a matter of the Deputy Director's personal issues. Gong Ju-seok, chairperson of FKGEU, said, "In today's public service, both national and local public officials are suffering from power abuse and bullying, yet there is no system that can protect them," adding, "The state is failing to protect this by law."
According to FKGEU's recent "survey on violations of public servants' personal dignity," 31.6% of public institution employees experienced workplace bullying, and 66% witnessed workplace bullying. Meanwhile, it was found that 80% answered that they could not take any action even if they witnessed bullying.
The union side said that, in addition to pervasive workplace bullying within public service organizations, legal amendments are needed regarding power abuse and malicious civil complaints.
Chairperson Gong said, "In the private sector, the Labor Standards Act related to the prohibition of workplace bullying was amended seven years ago, but our public officials are always in a blind spot."
He continued, "The four laws to prevent bullying of public officials must be amended," asking, "Is this a normal country where measures are discussed only when a public official dies?"
There were also demands directed at the climate ministry. ▲ A thorough fact-finding investigation and accountability regarding the recent death ▲ Expansion of the organization and staffing ▲ Eradication of work orders outside working hours ▲ Identification of managerial responsibility for failing to protect employees ▲ Building an organization where people come before performance ▲ Establishing an organizational adaptation system for new hires, among others.
There were also calls for government-level measures. Eun, the division head, demanded that "the government immediately resolve the excessive workload and chronic staffing shortages at newly established or reorganized ministries, and that the National Assembly, rather than resorting to patchwork remedies, effectively guarantee the labor dignity and safety rights of public officials and workers through amendments to the relevant laws."
There were also calls that Lee Jae-myung, the president, should address the incident during the climate ministry's policy briefing scheduled for the 4th. NUGE and FKGEU said, "We plan to continue additional protests depending on how the situation unfolds."