KEPCO hammers out contingency program for unionist general strike

All employees of the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) have been put on emergency duty to prepare for its unionized workers¡¯ general strike set for Thursday.

As of 9 a.m., Wednesday, the state-run KEPCO posted a blue alert for the emergency duties of more than half of its employees, which was followed by a red alert at 4 p.m. affecting all employees.

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy (MOCIE) also set up and put into operation an emergency situation room for normal power supplies.

KEPCO has already mapped out measures to supply power as usual in preparation for its unionists¡¯ walkout. A KEPCO spokesman said that there would be no problems in supplying power if the company implements the measures worked out last Thursday, when the unionists were originally scheduled to launch the general strike.

KEPCO management has secured 9,600 substitute workers, which break down to 5,000 non-union members, 700 retired employees and 2,400 subcontractors, the spokesman added.

It seems that KEPCO will face no special difficulties in supplying electricity, based on its explanation that it requires 8,600 workers to man power plants, transmission and transforming facilities and manage electric poles.

KEPCO also expects that some union members who do not participate in the strike will join the emergency team.

An official said that KEPCO has prepared for the strike by holding three exercises under simulated strike conditions. There will not be any power cut-off at home nor outage at factories, he stressed.

However, he explained that the emergency duty could hold for about two weeks. If the strike continues more than two weeks, unexpected accidents may take place.

The restoration of power supplies in the case of an accidental power failure will take much longer than the usual 20 to 30 minutes, he said. Other repair or maintenance work cannot be performed smoothly during the strike period. As a result, customers will inevitably suffer some inconveniences.