Bucheon City municipal workers at risk of differing retirement times based on union membership

Municipal workers in Bucheon City are facing an uncertain future regarding their retirement age, with the potential for significant disparities based on their union membership. The city's negotiation process with five different municipal unions has resulted in a partial agreement, with four unions accepting a unified retirement month of December. However, the Korean General Workers' Union remains at an impasse with the city over the core issue of extending the retirement age, creating a complex situation.

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Our union also agrees with unifying the retirement month. However, Bucheon City insists that it cannot accept the union's demand for retirement age extension, and if collective bargaining is not reached, unification of the retirement month is also impossible.

The crux of the problem lies in the city's regulations, which stipulate that workers retiring between January and June will do so on June 30, and those retiring between July and December will retire on December 31. The four unions that agreed to the December retirement month will have their members retire on December 31, regardless of their birth month. This creates a clear advantage for these workers compared to those who might fall under the default regulation if an agreement isn't reached.

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The unification of retirement dates is an easy issue that can be resolved by amending the public officials' regulations, but Bucheon City is not doing so.

The Korean General Workers' Union argues that the city is unwilling to consider their demand for a retirement age extension, while simultaneously insisting that a unified retirement month cannot be implemented without resolving this key issue. This deadlock means that members of this union, along with non-unionized workers, would continue to be subject to the existing regulations. This could result in some workers retiring as early as June 30, while others, particularly those in the newly agreed-upon unions, would retire at the end of the year.

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Retirement is not something that is applied retroactively like allowances; it is a matter directly related to the right to survival. It is a lack of legal and public ethical awareness for a local government to pressure a union's decision-making process by setting conditions on the retirement time of workers.

Councilwoman Yoon Dan-bi has criticized the city's approach, stating that unifying the retirement date is a simple matter of amending regulations and should not be used as leverage to pressure the union. She emphasizes that retirement timing is a critical issue directly related to workers' livelihoods and that the city's stance reflects a lack of legal and ethical consideration. The situation highlights the challenges in labor negotiations when differing priorities and regulatory frameworks intersect, potentially creating unfair outcomes for workers.

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The unification of retirement dates is possible only when collective bargaining with the Korean General Workers' Union is concluded. If negotiations are concluded by June, we will amend the public officials' regulations to unify the retirement date to December for non-unionized workers as well.