![April 6: Reinstated workers placed in a separate area inside a vacant second-floor space at the KPGA building. [Photo=KPGA labor union]](https://image.ajunews.com/content/image/2026/04/07/20260407173202840839.png)
In a statement Monday, the union said two of the three employees were assigned not to their previous office on the building’s ninth floor but to a separate area set up in a vacant space on the second floor, calling it a “retaliatory isolation placement.”
“Reinstatement is not merely a formal act of showing up to work; it requires a normal workplace and working environment to be a real restoration,” the union said. It argued that placing the employees in a separate space amounts to a failure to reinstate them and could constitute additional disadvantageous treatment and “secondary harm.”
The union also said the third employee has not been given normal duties and is effectively being excluded from work.
The dispute stems from a workplace harassment case involving a senior KPGA executive that surfaced in late 2024. The three employees who were dismissed had provided statements or testimony related to that case, the union said. The executive was sentenced at a first trial to eight months in prison on charges including verbal abuse and personal attacks against an employee.
The Gyeonggi Provincial Labor Relations Commission ruled in January that the three dismissals were unfair, and the association carried out reinstatement measures effective March 9, the deadline for compliance.
KPGA rejected the union’s claims, saying the ninth-floor office is “extremely cramped” due to existing staffing and cannot physically accommodate all three reinstated employees on the same floor. It said it arranged a seat for one employee on the ninth floor and set up temporary workspaces for the other two in the second-floor vacant area.
“The measure was not intended for isolation or retaliation,” KPGA said.
On the allegation of work exclusion, KPGA said it has given the reinstated employees routine tasks as well as specific instructions, including securing naming partners. It added that because departments have already completed work assignments for preseason preparations, it is carefully reviewing the best placement for some of the reinstated employees and will put a plan on the board agenda in mid-April.
The two sides also dispute whether KPGA Chairman Kim Won-seop refused representative bargaining. The union criticized Kim for declining talks, citing international duties. KPGA said it had legally delegated bargaining authority in advance to the secretary-general and the relevant team leader under labor laws, and said talks attended by the delegated representatives do not amount to avoiding negotiations.
With positions hardening, the labor dispute shows signs of dragging on. A proposed written agreement sought by the union, premised on “substantive reinstatement,” fell through, and both sides are pursuing an appeal process at the National Labor Relations Commission.
KPGA is also facing internal turmoil. At a regular general meeting held March 31, the 2025 business settlement was rejected and a special audit was approved.
The union urged KPGA to stop what it called discrimination and exclusion of reinstated employees, engage in responsible representative bargaining, and take follow-up steps after the unfair dismissal ruling. It also called on the association to ensure fairness and transparency in its operations and resolve internal conflict quickly.
* This article has been translated by AI.
Copyright ⓒ Aju Press All rights reserved.