Retired Employees of Changwon Facilities Corporation Urge Changwon City to Improve Wage Peak System

Calls for Institutional Reform and Compensation for Damages

Retirees from the Changwon Facilities Corporation in Gyeongnam have begun demanding compensation for damages caused by the wage peak system and institutional improvements.

Changwon Facilities Corporation, Gyeongnam. Photo by Seeryung Lee

Recently, retirees from the Changwon Facilities Corporation issued a statement urging measures to address the damages they suffered, such as salary reductions, due to the implementation of the wage peak system in line with government policy.

According to the statement, Changwon Facilities Corporation has implemented the wage peak system since 2018, reducing salaries by 5% three years before retirement, 10% two years before, and 15% one year before retirement.

As a result, over ten retired employees filed a lawsuit to invalidate the wage peak system, claiming they suffered damages as only their salaries were reduced without any adjustment to their working hours.

In this lawsuit, they won in the first trial but lost in the appeals court, and finally lost when the Supreme Court dismissed the case this past January.

However, in the case of the Busan Facilities Corporation, which applied the wage peak system in the same way, dozens of retirees filed a lawsuit to invalidate the wage peak system and won, prompting Busan City to take measures such as institutional improvements.

Currently, another group of over ten retirees from the Changwon Facilities Corporation has entered a second lawsuit, and yet another group of over ten retirees has filed a third lawsuit to invalidate the wage peak system.

There is criticism that, due to insufficient measures for those subject to wage adjustments under the wage peak system, a series of lawsuits have been triggered, resulting in taxpayers' money being wasted on unnecessary legal expenses for the institution.

The retired employees stated, "All we did was work with a sense of duty for the citizens while at the corporation, but we have become scapegoats due to government policy," and urged, "As the supervisory authority managing the corporation, Changwon City should prepare fundamental measures such as institutional improvements to the wage peak system and compensation for damages."