“There was nothing other than the last year of reform for a year”

A labor union of the Ministry of Justice holding a homeless protest in front of the main gate of the Gwacheon Government Complex in Gwacheon City, Gyeonggi Province. [사진 법무부 노동조합]

On the 31st, the Ministry of Justice’s labor union, composed of officials from the Ministry of Justice, filed a complaint with the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office on charges of abandonment of work by charging Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae for the spread of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) in Seoul’s eastern detention center and delaying wage negotiations.

They argued that “the corona19 confirmed in the eastern detention center continued to occur, and even the deaths came out, but the overall management responsibility rests with Minister Chu Mi-ae.” In addition, “the Ministry of Justice did not respond properly to bargaining with the union for wage negotiations,” he also accused Minister Chu of violating the trade union law.

In a phone call with the JoongAng Ilbo on the same day, Han Wan-hee, head of the Ministry of Justice’s union leader, said, “I have not done anything other than reform of the prosecution after Minister Chu took office in January.” In addition, he raised his voice, saying, “He has refused to negotiate wages itself,” and “a former representative of the ruling party, who had been in the democratization movement, suppressed the union.

A model of Justice Minister Chu Miae placed in front of the main gate of the Gwacheon Government Complex in Gwacheon City, Gyeonggi Province. It was used by the Ministry of Justice’s labor union during protests. [사진 법무부 노동조합]

According to the labor union, the Ministry of Justice recorded 2 billion won, an increase of 500 million won from last year, in terms of labor costs remaining after the government budget period this year. The unused budget is returned to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. The union side argues that Minister Chu did not pay attention to how to improve the treatment of non-regular workers using the labor budget. It is believed that the reason that Corona 19 spread in Seoul’s eastern detention center and employees became infected was due to the negligence of Minister Chu’s management. They have been protesting homeless in front of the main gate of the Gwacheon Government Complex in Gwacheon City, Gyeonggi-do, when the first wage negotiations failed on October 29th.

The union of the Ministry of Justice is made up of about 700 employees who are engaged in protection work. The total number of employees of the Ministry of Justice is 50,000, including the Correction Headquarters, Immigration and Foreigners Policy Headquarters, and the Crime Prevention Bureau. There are also employees working at the prosecutor’s office. Some of the staff at the correctional headquarters working in the eastern detention center in Seoul, where the number of confirmed corona19 has increased to 900, are also members of the union.

Reporter Kim Minsang [email protected]