Unionized Truckers Destroy Office, Batter Occupants in Labor Dispute

About 20 members of the Korea Cargo Transport Workers Union broke into and smashed the management office of Manghyang yesterday as part of an ongoing labor-management dispute. The police are investigating the case.

According to police in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, at around 7:20 p.m. on October 20, 20 unionized truckers under Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) broke into the management office of Manghyang rest stop, which is located on the Gyeongbu highway connecting Seoul to Busan. They battered the five workers present, including the head of the management office, a 44-year-old man.

The five workers are now undergoing treatment at a nearby hospital

The union members smashed the door and furniture of the management office with a hoe, causing 20 million won worth of property damage, according to police estimates.

According to the police, about 200 members of the Korea Cargo Transport Workers Union arrived at Manghyang rest stop in 10 chartered buses on the afternoon of October 20 to assist union workers at the rest stop in their labor dispute. The rest stop’s union workers had been confronting management since April, resisting the management decision to make a high-level union representative retire and in opposition to the way some members of the union had been treated during a recent restructuring drive.

mhjee@donga.com