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TRUCKERS' STRIKE * South Korea
* Complex Cargo System Lurks Under Strike
Seoul,S.Korea -The Korea Times, by Park Si-soo -17 June 2008: -- Truck drivers are refusing to get behind their wheels for the fourth day, leaving major seaports with a logjam of shipping containers. Soaring fuel costs triggered the strike; however, behind this is a multi-layered and complex cargo commission and distribution system... Unionized, independent truckers say the more they work the more they lose due to surging fuel costs, which are compounded by the complicated cargo contract and freight charge systems... Union members said any countermeasures without reform of the current cargo transportation system will be meaningless as they take home only a small portion of the freight transport fee after they pay commissions to truck firms and consigners who act as brokers... In response to skyrocketing gas prices, the government has pledged to compensate for half of the rise in diesel prices when they exceed 1,800 won ($1.8) per liter, starting next month. But union members are demanding the authorities lower the threshold to 1,600 won per liter. Truckers are also asking for at least a 30 percent increase in transportation fees, which have been frozen for the last five years... The strike has caused a series of manufacturing suspensions across the country. LG Electronics, the world’s fourth-largest mobile phone maker, was forced to cease product shipments from its factory in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province. Major steel companies also had to cease shipments. Moreover, the strike is expected to deal a blow to cement producers... The government plans to hold a series of talks with truck drivers and other union leaders to keep strikes from spreading further to other industries... (Photo from Yonhap: Hundreds of truckers’ union members lie down in the street in front of a Kia Motors’s factory in Seoul to block transportation by non-union members)* Transport, Construction Workers Strike
Seoul,S.Korea -Chosun -17 June 2008: -- Following the Korea Cargo Transport Workers Union, the construction equipment operators union, including dump truck drivers and remicon truck drivers, also went on strike on Monday. This stands to cause a disruption at building sites nationwide, following a similar interruption at major ports and container yards across the country... The national construction workers union of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the national construction equipment operators union of the Federation of the Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) on Monday said they went on an indefinite strike, calling for the introduction of a standard form of contract on equipment lease and government subsidies to make up for rising oil prices...
* The volume of moving containers drops 22 percent due to KCWU’s strike
Seoul,S.Korea -The Hankyoreh -17 June 2008: -- ... As the KCWU’s strike continued for a third day, the daily average volume of containers moved in or out of ports fell to one-fifth of normal operations. On the same day, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said, “The volume of containers moved in or out of major seaports or inland container terminals is 14,969 TEUs, twenty-foot equivalent units, or 22 percent of normal levels as of noon.” One TEU refers to a 20-foot shipping container. In the areas of Jecheon and Danyang, the volume of cement shipments plunged to less than 10 percent of normal levels... (Photo: Many containers are accumulating in a shipyard in Busan due to the strike of transportation laborers on June 15)Labels: truckers' strikes
posted by Unknown @ 5:46 AM
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