Public-service worker committee to officially launch Sept. 18

First meeting to be held to coincide with law's enforcement date

Talks to focus on improving employment quality, public services

Labor-government-expert preparatory body wraps up six months of work

Minister of Education Choi Kyo-jin (fifth from left) poses for a photo after signing a collective agreement on educational public-service workers at national schools with representatives of the National School Irregular Workers Solidarity Conference. The signing took place at Government Complex Sejong on Friday. The agreement applies to educational public-service workers at 42 national schools under the Ministry of Education's jurisdiction. Key agreements include expanding paid sick leave days and expanding annual leave days for non-working staff during school vacations. They also include extending the period for compensating wage differences for those on leave due to industrial accidents. (Yonhap)

A committee tasked with discussing better treatment for public-service workers in the public sector will officially launch Sept. 18. The government plans to hold its first meeting the same day the law takes effect, kicking off labor-government talks aimed at improving employment quality and public services for these workers.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor said Wednesday it held the third plenary meeting of the labor-government-expert preparatory body for the Public-Service Worker Committee at Coworkers Plus in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to review preparations for the committee's launch.

The preparatory body is an official communication channel formed by labor groups, experts and the government to jointly prepare for the committee's launch. Since holding its first meeting on March 31, it has held plenary sessions and working-level talks for about six months.

On the government side, participants included the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Office for Government Policy Coordination and the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Also involved were the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Planning and Budget and the Ministry of Personnel Management. Labor representatives came from the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU). The expert group included Jeong Heung-jun, a professor at Seoul National University of Science and Technology; Chae Jun-ho, a professor at Jeonbuk National University in North Jeolla Province; and Jeong Dong-gwan, a senior research fellow at the Korea Labor Institute.

The preparatory body established an operating structure linking the Public-Service Worker Committee with a working committee, a development council and sector-specific councils. It also jointly prepared the institutional groundwork for the committee, including its discussion structure and enforcement decree. The body also shared difficulties raised in the field regarding improving treatment for public-service workers and enhancing public services.

At Wednesday's final meeting, the government and labor representatives reviewed the outcomes of their discussions and preparations. They agreed to launch the committee Sept. 18, when the Public-Service Worker Committee Act takes effect. The committee will hold its first meeting that same day to formally begin labor-government consultations.

Kim Su-jin, director general for labor policy at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, said, "The process itself of labor groups, experts and relevant government ministries coming together over the past six months to cooperate for a smooth launch of the committee is our first achievement." "We will do our best, together with labor, government and experts, to ensure a successful launch by the time the law takes effect," she added.

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