SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government expanded its back-to-work orders Thursday against 1000’s of cargo truck drivers who’re staging a nationwide walkout over freight fare issues, saying a chronic strike could inflict “deep scars” on the country’s economy.
The “work start” orders on steel and fuel truckers were inevitable since the strike could begin to harm major export industries like automobiles and shipbuilding if it extends further, Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said in a news conference.
The strike’s impact has thus far been mostly limited to domestic industries like construction.
The orders, which were initially issued Nov. 29 on some 2,500 cement truckers, were expanded to about 6,000 drivers transporting steel and 4,500 transporting fuel and chemicals. Police are also clamping down on unionists who threaten or disrupt colleagues who decide to work.
The widening of the orders got here at the same time as the strike’s impact was diminishing entering its third week, with container traffic on the country’s major ports recovering pre-strike levels and cement supplies resuming at construction sites. The conservative government of President Yoon Suk Yeol has taken aggressive steps to ease delays in industrial shipments resembling mobilizing nearly 200 military vehicles, including containers and fuel trucks.
Political Cartoons on World Leaders
Political Cartoons
Strikers represented by the Cargo Truckers Solidarity union walked out on Nov. 24, demanding the federal government make everlasting a minimum freight rate system that is about to run out at the top of 2022, which they are saying is crucial for safety and financial stability within the face of rising fuel costs.
While the minimum fares currently apply only to shipping containers and cement, the strikers are also calling for the advantages to be expanded to other cargo, including oil and chemical tankers, steel and automobile carriers and package delivery trucks.
Yoon’s government had offered to expand the present scheme for an additional three years but has thus far rejected calls to widen the scope of minimum rates.
The orders have marked the primary time any South Korean government has exercised contentious powers based on a law revised in 2004 that claims failure to comply without “justifiable reason” is punishable by up to 3 years in jail or a maximum positive of 30 million won ($22,800). Critics say the law infringes on constitutional rights since it doesn’t clearly spell out what would qualify as acceptable conditions for a strike.
South Korean labor groups have asked the International Labor Organization to review whether the federal government order forcing cement truckers back to their jobs breaches basic labor rights.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor has confirmed that the United Nations agency sent a letter under the name of Corinne Vargha, its director of international labor standards, requesting that the South Korean government make clear its stance over the dispute.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material will not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
