Gov’t considers ordering more truckers back to work

Dec 08, 2022, 07:58 am

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The Gyeongbuk Police Agency conducted a search and seizure of the office of the Pohang Regional Headquarters of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) on Dec. 7, 2022./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Jeong Min-hoon

The government decided to hold an extraordinary Cabinet session to respond to the cargo union’s collective refusal to transport. The meeting will likely be held Thursday and be presided over by Prime Minister Han Duk-soo. The government plans to discuss issuing an additional back-to-work order against striking truckers in steel and petrochemical fields as the nationwide strike continues to disrupt supply chains.

The government invoked a return-to-work order, the first such directive since the system was introduced, to cement truckers on November 29 after the decision was approved at a Cabinet meeting earlier in the day. Since then, the cargo union members who had refused to transport returned to work, and the logistics transport volume has returned to the normal level. However, disruptions continue mainly in the steel and oil refining industries, which are not subject to the back-to-work order. However, it is known that the oil refining sector, which has been discussed so far, will be excluded from the subject of the executive order.

In a meeting with related ministers on November 4, President Yoon Suk-yeol ordered officials to “prepare to immediately issue an administrative order for industries that are feared to incur additional damage,” hinting an additional measure.

In addition, the government filed a police complaint against a striking cement trucker who failed to comply with the return-to-work order and also requested administrative measures by relevant local authorities. This marks the first government sanction related to noncompliance with the executive order. The government surveyed 19 transport companies and 516 truck owners who received the order and found that one individual did not comply without a justifiable reason. Therefore, it filed the complaint and administrative request.

In line with the government’s stance, the National Police Agency will also conduct intensive crackdowns on organized illegal activities taking place at construction sites nationwide for 200 days until June 25 next year. The police launched an investigation into the Pohang Regional Headquarters office of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity and a tent farm on charges of sending text messages to transport officials on November 30 and December 1 threatening to punish them if they do not join the strike.

Due to the government’s stern response, the general strikes are seemingly losing steam. “The union members sent us threatening text messages to join the union, and interfered our operation by driving slowly along the 7-kilometer section of the transportation route,” said a tank lorry driver with 10 years of experience. “

#executive order #trucker #oil #steel #cargo union