Labor Unions to Disclose Lists of Unfit Candidates Next Month

Koilaf Labor News, Vol. 200001 no. 63, 27 January 2000

The nation’s two umbrella labor groups have decided to release their own blacklists of lawmakers and politicians regarded as unfit to run in the April’s general election.

The labor federations’ plan to draw up the lists next month.

The plan will come after civic groups unveiled the names of allegedly corrupt and incompetent lawmakers.

The Citizens’ Coalition for Economic Justice (CCEJ) disclosed a blacklist of 164 lawmakers and politicians on Jan. 10, claiming those included should not be nominated as election candidates.

On Monday, the Citizens’ Alliance for the 2000 General Election also announced a list of 66 unqualified current and former lawmakers who were involved in corruption scandals, military coups, violation of laws, and encouraging regional antagonism.

The labor groups were reported to have started working on the process to sort out lawmakers and politicians who it blames for corruption, anti-reform and pro-business lines, and violation of laws.

They vowed to join hands with civic groups.

The Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) said yesterday it had already begun the process of selecting unqualified candidates from among 1,000 incumbent and former lawmakers, politicians and officials.

Boasting 1 million members, the FKTU has threatened to stage a systematic campaign against those on the blacklist.

It pledged to form a united workers’ bloc to bring defeat to unqualified candidates and create a new political culture for the new millennium.

The FKTU is expected to support pro-labor, reform-minded, and corruption-free candidates.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), another labor federation with a membership of 600,000 workers, also plans to work out a similar blacklist.

The KCTU said the list would include figures who were involved in the crackdown on unionists, voted down labor reform bills, and received bribes from companies in return for pro-business activities.

The KCTU is determined to prevent allegedly unqualified candidates from winning seats.
(Korea Times )