(Some excerpts below; click link for full article)

Lee Bong-ju, president of TruckSol [Korea’s Cargo Truckers’ Solidarity Division], 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.

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.

  • stasis
    link
    91 year ago

    “but the evil totalitarian north korean regime is worse than wholesome 100 south korea”