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STRIKES * South Korea - Truck drivers to return to work after days of strike
Seoul,S.Korea -Xinhua/Yonhap news agency -June 19, 2008-- Thousands of South Korean container truck drivers are expected to return to work Thursday... According to the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs, around 15,000 container trucks will resume service from Thursday afternoon as their representatives, consignors and consignees agreed to raise haulage rates, a key issue behind the labor strike... The decision came amid a series of reports that truckers have reached deals with a growing number of major shippers including LGChem, POSCO and Glovis to end their strike, raising hopes that the week-long disruption in the logistics industry would be resolved sooner than expected... (Photo: The Hnakyoreh - Containers are piling up at a construction site in the Munhyun neighborhood of Busan on June 17. The shipyards in Busan are filled with containers due to the truck drivers’ strike.)* Cargo Haulers’ Strike Enters Sixth Day
Seoul,S.Korea -The Korea Times, by Kim Rahn -18 June 2008: -- Cargo haulers continued their walkout for the sixth day Wednesday, but a growing number of drivers are reaching individual agreements with consigners regarding transport rates... Striking truckers are calling on large consigners and freight owners to accept their demands for sharp increases in freight rates. Whether the demands are accepted will determine the course of a strike that has nearly paralyzed cargo traffic at major seaports... Negotiations with the Container Transportation and Container Yard Operators' Association were held for the fourth time Wednesday. The association suggested a 16.5 percent rise in transport fees, an increase from its previous proposal of 13 percent, with truckers demanding 30 percent... Freight owners ― whether manufacturing or trading companies ― and contracted haulers are also holding separate negotiations with a growing number of them reaching an agreement. More and more truckers are returning to work and hauling cargo at major ports, which were at full capacity Monday... In the meantime, dump truck and other construction-related vehicle drivers under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, one of the two umbrella unions, scrapped their walkout, saying they would accept the government's proposal... But those under the other umbrella union, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, are refusing to return to work...
* Truckers' Strike to Cause Trade Deficit
Seoul,S. Korea -The Chosun -19 June 2008: -- Korea's trade balance is certain to run a deficit this month as the Korea Cargo Transport Workers Union's strike is slowing exports... A ministry official says exports have fallen 30 percent but import statistics, based on customs clearance, have barely changed because imports can be declared at the port before they're unloaded from ships. As imports are stockpiled at ports, it will take two weeks for the blockage to be reflected in import data... The ministry estimated a combined loss of US$6.5 billion -- $3.2 billion in exports and $3.3 billion in imports -- since the strike began a week ago...
* Truckers’ Strike Taking Toll on Lower-income Earners
Seoul,S. Korea -The Dong-A llbo -June 19, 2008: -- The effects of the nationwide strike by the Korea Cargo Transport Workers Union are starting to weigh more heavily on the economy, especially on lower-income workers... On the sixth day of the strike yesterday, livestock farmers had a hard time securing animal feed and farmers and fishermen struggled to transport their products to markets in time. Gas stations were running low on fuel supplies and grocery stores suffered from shortages of fruit, vegetables and daily necessities...
* Neoliberalism gone wacky
Seoul,S. Korea -Two Koreas.blogspot -June 17, 2008: -- What is interesting about the truckers strike that is now going is that the government is saying that it is going to force truckers back to work. However, truckers are considered 'self-employed' and therefore it is their right to refuse a contract. In other words lacking a collective agreement they have the option of 'exit' under contract law. This a feature of a lot of neoliberal labour market flexibilization, but the government does not want to recognize even this. It's funny, many of the truckers would like instead to be considered workers, with a collective agreement, but the government won't recognize that either. So, that is the present dilemma. The government says truckers are workers and then orders them back to work, the truckers say they are workers and demand a contract but the government says they are self employed and thus not allowed to collectively bargain. There is the paradox, it doesn't even seem to be about defining how one participates in the market anymore: with a collective or individual contract, instead it seems purely about a harder form of class power and the forced compulsion to work... Labels: truckers' strikes
posted by Unknown @ 2:44 PM
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