April Strikes Could Disrupt Economy

In response to the Korean Federation of Trade Unions’ (KFTU) call for a general strike starting April 3, the nation’s cargo union decided also to go on strike the same day. Labor disputes are expected to spread to Kia Motors’ Gwangju factory and GM Daewoo’s Changwon factory. Reports indicate that Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) workers may strike again as well.

Concerns are running high that a mass strike in April could become a reality, and that a simultaneous strike by the Korea Cargo Transport Workers Federation (KCTWF) and KORAIL could disrupt the nation’s supply system.

The KCTWF held an emergency meeting on the Hanam Industrial Complex grounds, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju City, on March 27 and decided to go on a strike on April 3 unless their demands to raise transportation fees and reinstate dismissed workers are satisfied.

The city is checking whether 3,256 3-ton and over trucks that are not registered in the cargo union can be available to transport in case of a general strike.

The union decided not to go on a strike immediately but to wait to see how things are going during a week-long negotiation with the business.

In Kia Motors’ Gwangju factory, the business and labor stand against each other on the number of laborers who work at the soon-to-be-released new model UN’s product line. This delayed the operation of the model’s mass production, which was scheduled for earlier this month.

The company suggested a maximum number of 845 workers to work at the line in an effort to boost export competitiveness through cost reduction. Meanwhile, the labor union wanted 1,115 persons in the production line. The company estimated that “we will lose at least 28.2 billion won because of production delays in March.”

GM Daewoo’s three irregular unionized workers climbed to the steel chimney of the factory in Changwon, Gyeonsang Province, on March 22, and have gone on a strike for six days. They are requesting former workers who were dismissed when the company falsified closures of its subcontractor to be reinstated.

Korail, which staged a walkout for four days from March 1, decided to strike again, citing that management is passive in negotiation between labor and management.

On this, Korail says that some passenger train services and cargo transportation services have been disrupted because some workers refused to do vehicle maintenance.

Experts say that general strikes of the KFTU, pending labor issues like irregular worker’s law and walkouts in the logistics sector such as railway and cargo transportation are combined to deal a harder blow to the nation’s economy, compared to previous years.

Eun-Woo Lee libra@donga.com