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Members of TruckSol wait in line outside the union’s Gwangju headquarters on Dec. 9 to vote on whether to continue their ongoing strike. (Yonhap)

South Korean truckers are returning to work after a 16-day general strike.

The strike was organized by the Cargo Truckers Solidarity Division (TruckSol), under the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union, affiliated with the umbrella Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.

The decision was reached in a poll of all union members, with 61.84% of voting members choosing to call off the strike. TruckSol plans to hold closing ceremonies at each of its regional offices and have truckers return to the roads.

“The motion to end the general strike and return to work passed with a majority of votes by union members in a poll carried out on Dec. 9,” TruckSol said on the same day.

TruckSol launched the strike on Nov. 24, demanding an extension of the safe freight rates system and an expansion of the types of freight covered by that system. In an emergency meeting on Thursday, TruckSol’s central executive committee moved to have members decide whether to continue the strike.

A poll open to all TruckSol members was held at 16 regional offices between 9 am and 11:10 am Friday on the question of whether the strike should be called off.

Votes were cast by 3,575 of TruckSol’s over 25,000 members. Among members who voted, 2,211 (61.84%) supported ending the strike, while 1,343 (37.55%) were opposed.

“If members decide [to end the strike], we will return to the workplace and participate in good faith in the discussion in the National Assembly. By the same token, we ask the government and the ruling party to honor their pledge to extend the safe freight rates system by three years, as announced in their deliberations,” TruckSol said in a statement following the executive committee’s decision to hold a poll about continuing the strike during the emergency meeting on Thursday.

By Jang Hyeon-eun, staff reporter

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