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🇰🇷 South Korea /Culture & Society

Cheongju City Excludes Orchestra from Performance, Union Protests 'Unfair Labor Practice'

From Hankyoreh · (6m ago) Korean Critical tone

Translated from Korean, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • The Cheongju City government has excluded the Cheongju Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) from an upcoming concert, opting to hire an external orchestra instead.
  • This decision follows an incident where CPO musicians performed wearing vests and holding banners protesting the city's evaluation system for artistic groups.
  • The orchestra's union is protesting the city's action as an unfair labor practice and a violation of citizens' right to cultural access.

A significant labor dispute is unfolding in Cheongju, where the city government's decision to sideline the Cheongju Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) from a scheduled performance has ignited strong opposition from the musicians' union. The city's move to replace the CPO with an external orchestra for the upcoming 'Picnic Concert' has been met with accusations of unfair labor practices and a disregard for the rights of its own artistic ensemble.

We have no choice but to bring in a private orchestra because the CPO union did not respond when asked if they would engage in collective action at the next performance.

— Yuk Geun-miCheongju City's Arts Management Team, explaining the city's decision to replace the CPO for the upcoming concert.

The core of the conflict lies in the CPO musicians' protest during a recent 'Brunch & Matinee Concert.' Wearing vests emblazoned with messages like 'Cheongju City, Respect Art' and 'Improve the Evaluation System Wasting Citizen's Blood Tax,' the musicians voiced their dissent against the city's annual performance evaluation system. This system, which involves external experts assessing musicians and can lead to 'position adjustments' (demotions) or 'termination of appointment,' has been a major point of contention.

Excluding union members who have secured legal dispute rights and bringing in external personnel with taxpayer money is a violation of the prohibition of replacement labor under the Labor Union Act. It is an unfair labor practice and a deprivation of citizens' right to see performances.

— Cheongju Philharmonic Orchestra UnionStatement protesting the city's decision to exclude the orchestra from the upcoming concert.

The union argues that this evaluation system is arbitrary and unfair, particularly after a court ruling sided with musicians who were demoted based on a single evaluation. The city, however, maintains that such evaluations are necessary to uphold artistic standards and that they are applied to other artistic groups as well. The current standoff not only highlights a deep-seated disagreement over artistic management and labor rights but also raises concerns about the potential cancellation of future CPO performances and the impact on citizens' access to cultural events.

The evaluation is necessary to maintain the highest level of skill. Other artistic group members are also evaluated.

— Yuk Geun-miCheongju City's Arts Management Team, defending the necessity of the performance evaluation system.
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Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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