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President of the Korean Public & Social Services and Transportation Workers’ Union (left) and KCTU president Shin Seung-chul shout slogans after a press conference announcing the end of the railway workers’ strike

By Cho Hye-jeong and Lee Jung-gook, staff reporters

For once, the National Assembly managed to serve as a mediator in a social conflict.

On Dec. 30, the 22nd day of the strike by the Korean Railway Workers’ Union (KRWU), the National Assembly created the Railway Development Subcommittee in the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, and the union agreed to call off the strike. The subcommittee will be a forum for labor and management, politicians, government officials, and representatives from civic groups to debate the concerns about privatization provoked by the establishment of the Suseo KTX line subsidiary. The disagreement between the union and the government about whether to revoke the subsidiary’s license and to explicitly ban privatization is far from over.

Late at night on Dec. 29, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle met with KRWU president Kim Myung-hwan and agreed that the National Assembly would create a subcommittee under the Transport Committee to deal with pressing issues including development of the railroads and that the railroad union would end its strike in exchange. The National Assembly representatives in attendance were Saenuri Party (NFP) lawmaker Kim Mu-seong and Democratic Party lawmaker Park Gi-chun, influential members of their parties, and Saenuri Party lawmaker Kang Seok-ho and DP lawmaker Lee Yun-seok, both members of the transport committee. They also agreed to establish a policy advisory body in which the ruling and opposition parties, the Ministry of Land Infrastructure and Transport, Korail, and experts from the private sector would participate when needed by the subcommittee. The written agreement was endorsed by the Supreme Council of the Saenuri Party and by the General Assembly of the Democratic Party on the morning of Dec. 30.

That same day, the ruling and opposition parties finished selecting members for the railroad subcommittee, which was a condition for the railroad workers’ union calling off the strike. However, there is little expectation for smooth sailing for the subcommittee. There are concerns that the two parties’ view of the roles and functions of the railroad subcommittee are so different that it may not be able to achieve much more than bringing the railroad workers’ strike to an end.

After approving the plan to create the railroad subcommittee in a full meeting of the transport committee, committee chair Ju Seung-yong said, “I hope that the subcommittee can act in an efficient and productive way in order to resolve the railroad strike to and to find innovative ways to develop the railroad industry.” The railroad subcommittee, which will be chaired by Saenuri Party lawmaker Kang Seok-ho, will convene for the first time on the morning of Dec. 31 to discuss how it will be run in the future.

There is a difference of opinion between the ruling and opposition parties about whether the bill to block privatization of the railroad industry - which the KRWU and the Democratic Party have been calling for - will be presented to the railroad subcommittee for discussion, making it likely that the subcommittee will get off to a rocky start. The written agreement defines the matters that the railroad subcommittee is to address in very broad strokes as “development of the railroad industry and other important issues.” While the opposition party holds that the bill to ban privatization is something that should definitely be discussed, the Saenuri Party is fighting back, calling this unacceptable. Another point of contention is whether the subcommittee will discuss possible disciplinary measures for unionists who took part in the strike.

Democratic Party Secretary General Park Gi-chun, who helped broker the agreement, said, “When the subcommittee meets, several issues can be discussed,” hinting that the question of discipline could also be an agenda item.

Oh Byeong-yun, floor leader for the Unified Progressive Party and a member of the railroad subcommittee, said much the same thing. “We need to take measures to enable labor and management to coexist, including revoking the charges against unionists who took part in the strike and reinstating workers,” Oh said.

But subcommittee chair Kang Seok-ho dismissed this possibility, saying, “The subcommittee will not deal with the question of canceling disciplinary action and other issues related to management and labor.” The police and prosecutors had also stated publicly that they would strictly carry out the investigation into the executives of the labor union for whom arrest warrants were issued regardless of whether the strike was called off.

Both the ruling and opposition parties are in agreement about the need to discuss what measures should be taken to resolve Korail’s 17.6 trillion won (US$16.67 billion) in debt and to increase the efficiency of its management. Nevertheless, it is expected that there will be sharp debate between the two parties about the details of these measures.

Experts insisted that the subcommittee ought to deal both with the controversy about privatization and the revocation of disciplinary measures.

“Now that the strike has been called off, we can say that the labor-management disagreement has been settled,” said Lee Byeong-hun, professor of sociology at Chung-Ang University. “Now, though, a new critical issue has emerged for the administration: namely, privatization and oppression of workers. The government must learn a lesson from this incident and reconsider the unyielding hard line that it has held on labor policy until now. If there are indications that the subcommittee is actually trying to push forward privatization and oppress the labor unions, it will only make the overall conflict in South Korean society worse.”

“With the government indicating that it plans to take major disciplinary action against the people who took part in the strike, unionists are anxious,” said Park Heung-su, researcher at the Public Policy Institute for People. “If the government calls for social discussion while simultaneously wielding the sword of discipline and punishment, no meaningful discussion can take place.”

“In addition to policy issues, the subcommittee should also discuss ways to minimize the damage to workers resulting from the railroad strike,” Park said.

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