A pilots strike at Korean Air that caused the carrier billions of won in losses and paralyzed air traffic for four days came to a temporary end on Sunday morning, when the government invoked its emergency arbitration right. Labor Minister Kim Dae-hwan cited huge damage cause by the strike to the economy. ¡°The government has decided that Korean Air's labor and management failed to settle their dispute by themselves,¡± he told a snap press conference.
 |
|
Korean Air staff are busy at Incheon International Airport's cargo building on Sunday after pilots ended a four-day strike./Yonhap
|
 |
|
This was only the second time the government has invoked its emergency arbitration power. Once invoked, it bans Korean Air pilots from striking again for 30 days, and union members in violation face punishment. Labor and the carrier will have to resume negotiations on a wage hike. If they break down again, both parties will have to accept an arbitration plan by the National Labor Relations Commission. Immediately after the announcement, pilots started returning to work.
But though the strike is over, it will take another two or three days before all Korean Air flights operate normally since pilots are entitled to rest periods between flights. Korean Air has decided to prioritize normalizing its cargo flight schedule starting Monday in light of the piled-up export goods for the year-end season. The airline is expected to normalize all domestic and international flight schedules by Tuesday. Korean Air accounts for 65 percent of domestic passenger flights, 41 percent of international passenger flights, and 48 percent of all airfreight.
In only four days, the walkout caused enormous damage to the country¡¯s entire industry. Korean Air canceled 979 flights, or 62 percent of its total flights of 1,569, since Dec. 8. It failed to transport a total of 129,000 passengers and 9,700 tons of cargo, incurring some W67 billion (US$67 million) in losses. Adding losses for exporters and travel agencies, the country lost some W206.3 billion. That is more than 82 percent of the W250 billion damage from a 25-day strike by Asiana Airlines¡¯ unionized pilots in the summer. There will be more damage from the loss in credibility for Korean Air.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
