KCTU general strike fizzles day 1 as workers keep working

The confederation, which is supporting truckers on strike since Nov. 24, started the walkout with rallies in 15 major cities, including Seoul, Gyeonggi and Busan.

The Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) holds a rally, the biggest in six years, in Busan, on Tuesday. The KCTU claimed that 20,000 members joined rallies in 15 large cities nationwide. [YONHAP]

A Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) general strike called for Tuesday was largely ineffective as participation remained low and enthusiasm mixed.

The confederation, which has been supporting truckers on strike since Nov. 24, started the walkout with rallies in 15 major cities, including Seoul and Busan.

It is the first nationwide strike called by the organization in six years.

The KCTU said that about 20,000 union members have joined in the rally calling for the government to accept the demands of the cargo truck drivers to make the freight rate system permanent and expand the system beyond container and cement trucks.

Under the system, truckers get fixed, salary-like payments.

The KCTU, often characterized as militant, also demanded that the Yoon Suk-yeol government end its oppression of the labor union.

It claimed in a statement that forcing truck drivers to return work is unconstitutional and that using the Fair Trade Commission to investigate the union organization is an effort to frustrate “justified” labor activity.

“The government has targeted the KCTU as a resistance force,” it said.

Union members of large corporations, including Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and Hyundai Steel, declined to participate. Hyundai Heavy Industries Group shipbuilders, employing 11,000, said they have reached an agreement with management over wages and compensation and did not join in.

The Korean Construction Workers’ Union participated, halting major construction projects.

Cargo truck drivers taking part in the original strike have already started hauling again, especially those receiving return-to-work orders from the government.

If those receiving the order fail to comply, they could be jailed for up to three years and a fined up to 30 million won. They could have their licenses suspended or revoked.

The orders were sent to 824 cement truck drivers, including those that rent out trucks to other. Among 52 the government surveyed, 50 have already returned to work while two expressed the intention to return but currently can’t due to personal issues, such as Covid-19.

Cargo shipments are starting to move smoothly to and from ports, with throughput at 12 ports nationwide at 60 percent of pre-strike levels.

The government estimates that only 5,300 truck drivers continue to strike, down from 9,600 that joined on the first day.

While the cement trucking, which has been the subject of the return-to-work order, is about 80 percent recovered, other types of trucking continue to be affected.

Steelmakers have been forced to cut production, and 96 gas stations are out of fuel, including 56 in the greater Seoul area. The government said it is sending emergency supplies to some of the gas stations by military vehicle.

More types of trucking may be the subject of return-to-work orders, and some government support for certain types of trucking might be revoked.

A military fuel tanker fills up at a gas station in Seoul on Tuesday. Gas stations have been running out of fuel due to the cargo trucker strike that has lasted for nearly two weeks. [YONHAP]

President Yoon Suk-yeol has likened the strike to the North Korea nuclear threat, Yonhap has reported.

If the past administration had handled the North with the firm principle of not accepting nuclear weapons, the country wouldn't face the current threat from North Korea, according to Yonhap.

“If we give in to any illegal act or violence, a vicious cycle will be the result,” the report quoted him as saying