(LEAD) Police raid dozen labor union offices over alleged wrongdoing at construction sites

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SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Yonhap) -- Police on Thursday raided a dozen construction union offices, including those affiliated with the country's two biggest umbrella labor organizations, as part of an investigation into alleged wrongdoing at construction sites.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency sent investigators to five offices belonging to the construction union of the Korean Confederation of Trade Union (KCTU) and three construction union offices of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions to seize accounting documents and other evidence, officials said.

Six other smaller construction unions based in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province were also searched by the police, along with 20 houses belonging to officials of the construction unions.

Police reportedly opened an investigation on suspicions that officials at the unions coerced employers to hire their union members for construction jobs and demanded them to pay financial rewards otherwise.

Police plan to question construction union officials after analyzing evidence seized during Thursday's raid.

Illegal labor activities or practices by construction unions have been on the government's radar recently as the government is pledging to root out irregularities at construction sites.

The construction union affiliated with the KCTU immediately condemned the police search as organized suppression of labor unions.

"Siding with construction conglomerates, the government is framing rightful labor activities guaranteed by the Constitution as illegal," KCTU's construction union head Chang Ok-ki said in front of one of the raided KCTU offices.

pbr@yna.co.kr
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