South Korean truck drivers vote to end nationwide strike

Union members vote to finish walkout after authorities invokes powerful strike-busting legislation.

South Korean truck drivers have voted to finish a nationwide strike that started on November 24 [File: Yonhap via Reuters]

South Korean truck drivers have voted to finish a nationwide strike over minimal freight charges amid rising gas bills and residing prices.

In a vote on Friday, 62 p.c of union members voted in favour of ending the strike after greater than two weeks of commercial motion, South Korea’s Yonhap Information Company reported.

Simply over 3,570 of the union’s greater than 26,100 members participated within the vote, Yonhap stated.

The South Korean authorities has blamed the strike for disrupting provide chains and inflicting gas shortages throughout the nation, estimating the walkout inflicted losses on the metal and petrochemical industries totalling 1.3 trillion gained ($999.1m).

President Yoon Suk-yeol, who accused the drivers of holding the transport community “hostage” amid powerful financial circumstances, on Thursday invoked powerful strike-busting legal guidelines to order truckers serving the oil refining and steelmaking sectors again to work, after issuing an identical order final month for the cement business.

Critics have argued the anti-strike legislation, which imposes penalties for non-compliance of as much as three years in jail or a effective of as much as 30 million gained ($22,550), is draconian and presumably unconstitutional.

In a letter despatched to the South Korean authorities final week, the Worldwide Labour Group (ILO), the UN’s labour company, stated that return-to-work orders violate staff’ freedom of affiliation rights and authorities mustn't impose felony penalties towards these concerned in peaceable strike motion.

The Korean Confederation of Commerce Unions (KCTU), South Korea’s largest umbrella union, in contrast Yoon’s order to the imposition of martial legislation.

As much as 25,000 unionised and non-union drivers went on strike on November 24 to demand that a minimal pay system be made everlasting and expanded in scope. The federal government had supplied to increase the system for 3 years, which the drivers argued didn't go far sufficient.