Tension rises over truck drivers' strike

Tension escalated Friday over a planned nationwide strike by truck drivers next week and its impact on the already strained transport industry.

Earlier this week, Korea’s largest freight transport union threatened that it would refuse cargo loading and unloading starting Monday against the government’s recent reform outline on the freight transport market. 

Of about 11,000 trucks joining the union, over 70 percent are container-transporting trucks. If it goes ahead, this will mark the fourth general strike of the union.

Along with truck drivers, the group of tanker ship owners vowed to join the strike over the demand by oil refiners to raise the freight fee.

On Sept. 27, the Korean Railway Workers’ Union launched a strike against the government’s push to introduce a performance-based salary system.

The government expressed regret to the union, warning that it would take a stern stance against illegal actions in accordance with the law and threatened to cut fuel subsidies for six months for strike participants.

To minimize the possible aftermath, the government set up an emergency freight countermeasure team in each relevant ministry and vowed to dispatch alternative freight trucks and trains across the country.

By Lee Hyun-jeong  (rene@heraldcorp.com)