KEPCO union members to go on strike tomorrow --- first in history

The trade union of the state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) plans to launch an unprecedented general strike Friday, threatening electric power supplies nationwide.

Related union officials said Thursday that if the Special Mediation Committee of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) makes no progress in addressing the dispute Thursday afternoon, KEPCO unionists will launch an all-out work stoppage Friday morning.

The NLRC opened a meeting of the Special Mediation Committee in the afternoon with Kim Won-Bae presiding and will make a decision after receiving briefings on the corporation¡¯s restructuring from the union, management and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE).

Related council officials said that they would present an arbitration plan after listening to the positions of the trade union, management and the government. But if the government and union do not change their conflicting positions, the panel will not be able to work out an arbitration measure, they said, adding that the outcome of the committee meeting will be made public in the late afternoon.

Since the power company was designated a compulsory public enterprise, if the NLRC decides to refer the labor dispute to the official arbitration, the Special Mediation Committee, headed by Lim Jong-Yul, chairman of the NLRC, will have to hold a session again and present its arbitration plan.

In particular, the related trade union law and the labor relation arbitration law provide that strikes are prohibited at compulsory public enterprises during the 15-day arbitration-decision process. If these legal stipulations are broken, violators are subject to up to one year of imprisonment or fines of 10 million won or less.

In this connection, the trade union side said that if the NLRC puts forward a compromise plan to defer corporate restructuring for a certain period, the union would reconsider the planned strike, but if the commission passes an official arbitration decision, the union will launch the strike at 4 a.m. Friday as scheduled.

On the other hand, the management of the corporation has formulated a plan to reserve a 9,600-strong alternative manpower team and mobilize it on a gradual basis to prevent the suspension of power supplies. Meanwhile, the firm¡¯s management has instructed its headquarters and 299 primary business branches to set emergency briefing rooms, while ordering senior officials to stand by for contingencies and disallowing official trips and leaves of absence.

The management also set a measure to take criminal and civil legal action and disciplinary steps against lawbreakers when the unionists go on strikes.

The MOCIE, for its part, asked the police on Thursday to protect power supply facilities, and police authorities decided to take judiciary action against the union leaders if they launch illegal strikes.