Members of the public servants union voted down a plan to stage a general strike.

Among the more than 85-thousand members of the Korean Government Employees' Union, about 40 thousand or 46 percent, voted for the strike, but the number was short of a majority.

But union leaders said they would not accept the results of the voting accusing the government of "obstructing" the balloting by union members.

They said the union's central committee will make a decision on whether to strike in its meeting slated for Monday.

The union comprised of low-level public servants wants the government to guarantee basic labor rights.

The organization was launched in March last year, but has yet to acquire legal status as a labor union. Negotiations with the government collapsed last June.

The Roh Moo-hyun government earlier promised to allow the setup of a labor union of low-level officials with limited labor rights next year.