Opposition to Personnel Transfers of Ministry of Economy and Finance Grade 4 and Local Government Grade 5
"Forced to Resolve Ministry of Economy and Finance Staffing Bottleneck"
The Ministry of Economy and Finance's unilateral transfer of its Grade 4 senior officials to metropolitan cities and provinces nationwide, while bringing in Grade 5 officials from local governments to the ministry, has sparked strong opposition from the Jeonnam Provincial Government Employees' Union.
The Jeonnam Provincial Government Employees' Union (Chairman Lee Yong-min) stated in a press release on the 14th, "Using the 'budget consultation authority' as a weapon to send Grade 4 senior officials from the Ministry of Economy and Finance to local governments and receive Grade 5 personnel from local governments is a form of 'personnel power abuse.'"
This is personnel power abuse by the Ministry of Economy and Finance exploiting the weaknesses of financially vulnerable local governments. Although it is superficially packaged as an equal personnel exchange, it is actually forcing metropolitan cities and provinces to accept Grade 4 transfers to resolve personnel congestion within the ministry.
The union emphasized, "What makes the problem even more serious is that the Ministry of Economy and Finance plans to abolish the dispatch system altogether and have the local governments secure the positions so that the officials remain there permanently. If this is implemented as is, local governments will effectively lose one Grade 4 position, inevitably causing personnel confusion and promotion bottlenecks."
The union explained that the Ministry of Economy and Finance's reckless behavior toward local governments is due to the powerful weapon of 'government budget consultation authority.'
They stated, "Local governments, which must receive budget support from the government, cannot ignore the strong influence of the Ministry of Economy and Finance," adding, "It is already known that some local governments have been strongly pressured by the ministry for not cooperating with personnel matters."
Furthermore, they said, "Our anger at the current situation is not simply about the one-sided personnel exchange between the government wielding power and financially weak local governments," but "because the Ministry of Economy and Finance has long acted like a 'malicious employer' regarding our salaries, allowances, and various welfare benefits involving budgets."
The union pointed out that the ministry has been quick to cut down on proposed salary increases suggested by the Public Officials' Salary Committee without even considering them, and that allowances have remained unchanged for decades, yet are considered excessive.
The union criticized, "In short, the ministry arbitrarily cuts and adjusts public officials' wages, but when their own promotion bottlenecks become a problem, they push the issue onto local governments as if forcing them out the door."
They also stated, "Such shameless behavior by the Ministry of Economy and Finance must never be tolerated," and warned, "If the executive branch succumbs to this power abuse and accepts the ministry's demands, we will hold the responsible executives accountable to the end."
They added, "The Ministry of Economy and Finance's excessive personnel power abuse against financially vulnerable local governments is an act that disregards the fundamentals of local autonomy," and pledged, "We will use all means and methods to stop this."
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