hankyoreh

With a strike by the Korea Cargo Workers Union entering its fifth day on June 17, five government ministries including the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, held a joint press conference, saying the government “won’t accept some of the KCWU’s demands, including a guarantee of basic labor rights.”

In a joint statement, the government urged striking truckers to end their action, saying “The KCWU’s refusal to move freight is an illegal act and a general strike by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions is a political strike that isn’t allowed by law. If these illegal actions continue, the government will take steps in line with the principles of law and order.”

Along with this, talks involving the KCWU, the government and cargo owners have failed to make progress. Accordingly, there is an expectation that the KCWU’s strike may be further drawn out. An official at the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said, “There is difficulty in negotiations as the KCWU took the issue of labor rights for cargo truck drivers.” “If the strike continues for 15 days, the government would have no choice but to submit a plan to the Cabinet meeting to issue an order to resume work due to mounting damages,” the official said.

At the press conference, the government said it would spend 100 billion won (US$98 million) to buy cargo trucks and their licenses from truck drivers for the second half of this year. In addition, the government plans to spend 50 billion won to help cargo truck drivers to replace their diesel-fueled engines with liquefied natural gas engines. The replacement will cost 20 million won per truck. To ease financial burdens for truck owners, the government will decrease midnight toll charges for all cargo trucks. Currently, the government offers the toll charge discount for trucks weighing 10 tons or more. As for the KCWU’s key demand to introduce a standardized transport rate, the Office of the Prime Minister will form a committee to review the demand, the government said.

As of 3:00 p.m. on June 17, a total of 13,463 truck drivers were refusing to move freight. The total volume of moving containers at seaports and inland container terminals fell to 18,302 TEUs, or 27 percent of normal operations. One TEU refers to a roughly 6-meter shipping container.

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