Workers with Korea’s Cargo Truckers’ Solidarity Division (TruckSol) commenced their strike on Thursday, demanding that the minimum pay system for truckers be extended and expanded to include other freight types. The government denied that the strike would prompt a distribution crisis, but has responded aggressively by saying that they will not hesitate to order the truckers to go back to work.
TruckSol, which belongs to the umbrella Korean Public Service and Transport Workers’ Union, held launch ceremonies at 16 local headquarters across the country at 10 am on Thursday to signal the start of a general strike in major distribution bases such as various ports, petrochemical complexes, and oil refineries.
Lee Bong-ju, president of TruckSol, stated at the launch ceremony at an inland container depot in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province, that “in a market where the shipper has the power to dictate transportation fees and will ultimately decide the minimum price rate, the safe trucking freight rate is the only law that protects truckers.”
“The general strike will not come to an end until the government stops trying to change the safe trucking freight rate for the worse, abolish the sunset clause of the safe trucking freight rates system, and expand the system to cover more freight types,” he went on to say.
The safe trucking freight rates system is a system that prevents truckers from being overworked, speeding, and overloaded by guaranteeing a minimum annual wage, and has been in place for three years since 2020 for truckers in the container and cement industry.
TruckSol has said that all 25,000 members of the union will participate in the strike. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) estimated that 9,600 workers participated in the launch ceremonies.
On the first day of the strike, distribution disruptions did occur at some factories and industrial complexes. Hyundai Steel’s Pohang production plant, which usually distributes 8,000 tons of goods a day, was unable to distribute anything on Thursday. Gangwon Province, which usually distributes an average of 75,000 tons of cement a day, was able to send out 51,000 tons through trains and marine transport.
Kia’s Gwangju production plant also failed to distribute finished products and so had to prepare additional stackers at its Pyeongdong shipping plant. However, MOLIT stated that “the storage yard occupancy rate (the ratio of containers actually stored to the storage capacity of each port) at 12 nationwide ports was at 64.2%, which is no different from normal (64.5%), and from 10 am to 5 pm the container transportation volume was at 40%.”
The ministry stated that the drop in the occupancy rate was due to the measures that various shipping and transportation companies made in advance in preparation for the strike.
The government issued a public statement on Thursday and emphasized the aggressive measures it would take in response to the strike.
Won Hee-ryong, minister of land, infrastructure and transport, held a briefing at the Seoul Government Complex with Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon and Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jung-sik. There, he stated that the government would impose fines on those who refuse to transport goods, and that it would also “track down those who participated in illegal activities such as obstruction of transportation and blackmail and show zero tolerance towards the relevant parties.”
Won went on to say that if the strike leads to a serious distribution crisis, the ministry would issue an work start order and that he was open to discussing the issue at a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
According to the Trucking Transport Business Act, the minister of land, infrastructure and transport can issue an order to commence business to truckers if they disrupt distribution without justifiable grounds. Prime Minister Han Duck-soo also held a meeting of ministers on state affairs and called for the strike to end, asking that TruckSol think prudently while also considering the frigid economic climate.
By Jeon Jong-hwi, staff reporter; Choi Ha-yan, staff reporter; Kim Yeong-dong, Busan correspondent
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