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Korean business and infrastructure faced paralysis on Tuesday when the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions went on general strike at 1 p.m. after a labor reform bill passed the committee stage in the National Assembly. The in-house unions at the state-run Korea Railroad and Seoul Metro are also poised for a walkout on Wednesday if their negotiations with management collapse.
The Ministry of Construction and Transportation says a strike by the KORAIL and Seoul Metro unions will reduce the operation rate of the nation's railway and subways to 31 percent. That is 34 percent for the KTX, a mere 16 percent for provincial passenger trains, 39 percent for the metropolitan subway and 18 percent for freight trains -- even lower than the 40 percent operation rate recorded when the unions went on strike in 2003 and promising to mire Korea in its worst transport crisis in recent history.
The lines are drawn for a prolonged standoff between government and labor. The government has made clear that it regards the KTCU walkout as illegal because it is motivated by political gain and has vowed to take firm action. The Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office says it will seek arrest warrants for union leaders who call illegal strikes, and the Korea Employers Federation has warned it will bring civil and criminal lawsuits against unions that go on illegal strikes.
"We will continue general strikes until the National Assembly withdraws the non-regular workers bill," the KTCU said Tuesday. It said some 150,000 workers (50,000 according to estimates by the Labor Ministry) including those with Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors took part in the strike. The KTCU will rally nationwide to denounce the bill on Wednesday and resume the general strike the next day.
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Rows of taxies line up in front of the National Assembly as part of a protest against a controversial bill on non-regular workers in Seoul on Tuesday.
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A 13th round of negotiations between KORAIL management and union lasting until late Monday night failed to narrow their differences over demands such as re-hiring of laid-off workers, hiring of new staff, plans to strengthen the public nature of the nation's subway and railway systems, and an end to discrimination against non-regular workers. Seoul Metro union and management are also stuck over union demands like hiring more workers with the introduction of the five-day week, improved working conditions and higher salaries.
The Ministry of Transportation has set up a task force to deal with the KORAIL and Seoul Metro strikes if they materialize and has devised an emergency plan harnessing non-union staff and military personnel and expanding bus and taxi services to take up some of the slack.
The National Labor Relations Commission says it will end any KORAIL and Soul Metro strikes by way of compulsory arbitration since both are classified as vital utilities. Emergency arbitration automatically suspends strikes for 15 days and compels both labor and management to accept the deal proposed by the ombudsman.
But the KORAIL and Seoul Metro unions have threatened to go ahead regardless. Since the freight workers and taxi drivers unions say they will support the KORAIL strike, there is now a real threat of a spring of discontent ahead.
Meanwhile, the nation’s other union umbrella, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, also announced it cannot approve the labor reform bill but has so far announced no industrial action.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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