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The Busan chapter of the truckers union said Sunday that it would start a full-scale strike if the government does not accept by Monday its 12-point demand, which includes higher pay and lower fuel prices. Damage to industry nationwide caused by the dispute is mounting, as the Korea Cargo Transport Workers Union has impeded container yard traffic at Busan and Gwangyang ports over the last three days.
Due to the action at Busan, incoming and outgoing container traffic at the port fell 54 percent from Friday to Saturday and another 33 percent from Saturday to Sunday. If the tie up continues, insiders say, export cargo may be unable to be loaded by Tuesday. Industry is feeling the pain; analysts say the action is costing Samsung Electronics W100 billion ($80 million) per day.
Also, because cargo is not being transferred out, container storage at the port is past 80 percent of capacity, meaning there soon could be a complete paralyis of containers coming in to the port.
At Gwangyang, cargo volume is down from a daily average of 2,500 TEUs to 500 TEUs.
Busan normally handles 80 percent of Korea's container traffic, Gwangyang 10 percent. The truckers will meet Monday to decide whether to wage a full strike.
(Moon Gap-sik, gsmoon@chosun.com )
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