Crisis of Massive Flight Cancellation

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) announced yesterday that it planned to proceed with a general strike beginning on 12th. As two major airline companies count down the strike, not only the inconvenience of the passengers but also the bad effect on the national economy is anticipated.

- Should we expect a serious air flight disturbance? Although the Korean Air and the pilot’s union discussed the wage increase in 15 items, including the establishment of the `review committee on the flight service regulation` and some other issues, they did not reach an agreement. The pilot’s union began to strike at the parking lot adjacent to the joint market of the fishery cooperatives nearby Kimpo Airport on 2 p.m. yesterday. Some of the union members continued to strike after having moved to the Joongang University.

Even if the Korean Air and the pilot’s union settle the matter, a massive flight cancellation of 353 air flights, which are scheduled to take off in the morning of 12th, is expected due to the flight service regulation that grounds the pilots for 12 hour rest before the next flight.

Although Asiana Airlines union accepted the wage increase (4.5 percent of the overall increase and the 7 percent of increase for the some employees) suggested by the company at the adjustment meeting, the union and the company did not come to an agreement on the specific items. If the unions of the two companies strike, it seems that 55,000 registered passengers of the Korean Air and 20,000 registered passengers of the Asiana Airlines cannot travel on 12th. The estimated loss for the Korean Air is 20 billion won, and 5 billion won for the Asiana Airlines. As the failure in the air cargo services - semiconductor, mobile phones, computer - are expected, the anticipated loss in the export per day is estimated to be $ 57 million.

- Labor circles: The KCTU announced that it planned to proceed with a general strike in order to protest the government’s corporate restructuring and to demand an improved status for part-time workers and a double-digit wage hike, and to accomplish the reform legislation.

Chairman Dan Byeong-Ho of the KCTU said that 55,330 members of the 125 labor unions under the KCTU will jointly wage a strike on Tuesday followed by 11,000 members of the 12 hospitals on Wednesday. However, the Ministry of Labor anticipated that it would be `partial strike`. Meanwhile, if the unions of the hospitals are to go on strike, the inconvenience of the patients is expected.

- Government: The government held a meeting with labor related ministries, presided by Prime Minister Lee Han-Dong, and announced an informal statement to the public on behalf of the five labor related ministries. The government said in the statement that ``when the public should come together to restore the employment stability and to overcome the severe drought problem, the nationwide strike should be restrained and the illegal action will not be tolerated.`` The government also urged the labor-management to negotiate and dialogue through the labor-management adjustment committee with regard to the issue of the shorter working hours. The government also said that ``the nationwide strike discourages the economy which is slowly recovering, and it makes difficult to draw the foreign investment by lowering the foreign credibility.``

The Public Security Department of the Supreme Prosecutor`s Office said that if the illegal strike is waged, the prime movers would be tracked down and subject to legal action.

Jung Young-Gwan yongari@donga.com