The two major public employee unions held simultaneous press conferences across the country on the 22nd to call for an increase in public employee compensation next year.
“In the era of COVID-19 and high inflation, the government has unilaterally notified civil servants of low salary increases and forced them to make unconditional sacrifices,” the civil service unions said, demanding that the government realize civil servant salaries.
In May of this year, the actual amount of money received by Mr. A, a grade 9 civil servant at a parent organization in Jeollabuk-do, who entered the public service last year, was 1.953 million won. The total remuneration was 2.71 million won, but 721,010 won was deducted from it.
753,700 won for health insurance, 238,430 won for contributions (civil service pension), 9650 won for long-term care insurance for the elderly, 310,000 won for deductible dues for the savings concept, 18,210 won for civil service union dues, 3,000 won for evergreen dues, 45,000 won for meal vouchers, 38,600 won for income tax, and 38,500 won for local income tax.
His main salary is only 1,815,000 won, even though he was in the army and holds the third rank. His remuneration includes 50,000 won for special duty, 481,000 won for overtime스포츠토토, 140,000 won for fixed meal, 175,000 won for rank subsidy, and 50,000 won for public service activities.
In April, Mr. A’s real wage was 1,910,700 won, which was similarly low.
It is pointed out that even living is difficult.
He is single and lives in a one-person household and does not own a car. He lives in a one-room apartment and pays rent of 300,000 won per month with a deposit of 5 million won.
After utility bills such as electricity, cell phone bills, and pension savings, he only has about 500,000 won left to spend freely.
He also expressed anxiety about the future. He claims that it’s not easy to make ends meet even if you’re a dual-income earner.
“I’m used to a small salary from my previous job, but the salary of a grade 9 civil servant is too low,” he said. “One of the reasons why the popularity of civil servants has waned is the low salary, but it seems to be difficult to change.”
To address this, the National Public Employees’ Labor Union and the Korean Confederation of Public Employees’ Trade Unions are demanding an increase of 377,000 won to reflect the decline in real income over the past three years, as well as a flat-rate meal allowance (80,000 won), an increase in subsidies for positions below grade 6 (35,000 won), and a revision of the formula for calculating overtime and annual leave compensation to match the private sector.