Employees left out of discussions on integration of port security facility subsidiaries... union opposition

As the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries is pursuing the integration of the nation's four major port corporations and five port security facility subsidiaries, employees of the subsidiaries are protesting, saying they are being excluded from the integration discussions.

The Korea Port Security Facilities Corporation Labor Union issued a press release on the 4th and claimed, “Subsidiary employees who are directly involved in the integration of Port Authority subsidiaries are actually being excluded from the integration discussion process.”

According to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the labor union, employees of the four major port corporations, including Busan, Incheon, Ulsan, and Yeosu Gwangyang, are participating in the integrated promotion task force (TF) formed by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, but employees of port security facility subsidiaries are not included.

The port security facility subsidiaries subject to integration are five: Busan Port Security Corporation, Incheon Port Security Corporation, Ulsan Port Management, Yeosu Gwangyang Port Management, and Yeosu Expo Management.

Currently, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries is pursuing research services for the integration of the four major port corporations and five port security facility subsidiaries.

The union said, “It is difficult to understand that the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries sent three employees from each of the four major port corporations to form an integration promotion task force, but did not even provide subsidiaries’ employees with an opportunity for substantive consultation. If the integration is carried out in the form of a port corporation subsidiary as before, structural problems such as the hiring of police officers, poor security training, security personnel leaving mid-term, and chronic manpower shortage will be repeated.”

He then urged, “Instead of stopping at formal integration, an independent integration organization should be established through the enactment of a special law,” and “Before proceeding with research services for the integration of subsidiaries, the actual participation of subsidiary employees in the integrated task force must be guaranteed.”

The union announced that it would issue a statement containing these demands and then hold a rally.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries is currently in the stage of reviewing basic matters for integration, and its position is that it will collect opinions from employees of its subsidiaries when discussing future personnel management.

An official from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries explained, "The Port Facility Security Officer (PFSO), who oversees the security work at each port, is in charge of the Port Corporation. Port Corporation employees who participated in the task force are reviewing ways to integrate the subsidiaries. We are currently in the stage of discussing matters necessary for integration, such as the subsidiary's shareholding structure and building lease."

He continued, “We plan to review specific matters such as human resources management next year,” and added, “During this process, we plan to directly listen to the opinions of stakeholders and discuss them together in the form of a labor-management-government consultative body.”