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| A member of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity union stands next to a truck during a strike in Yeosu, Korea, June 9. Yonhap |
By Lee Kyung-min
The national strike by unionized cargo truckers under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) is expected to continue for the time being, as a ten-hour round of negotiations between the transport ministry and key KCTU officials failed to reach an agreement, Saturday, according to industry watchers, Sunday.
Some fear that the week-long logistics disruptions might develop into an economic crisis, eating into the profit margins of not only retail businesses but also the country's key manufacturing industries increasingly considering temporary output reductions due to a lack of storage.
No immediate compromise is on the horizon between drivers and logistics operators. The two sides remain poles apart as to whether or by how long the Safe Trucking Freight Rates System should be extended beyond Dec. 31. The system guarantees minimum freight rates for truckers, helping prevent dangerous driving.
Should the umbrella union escalate the protests, the issue will test the leadership and conflict mediation skills of the pro-business and anti-union Yoon Suk-yeol administration.
Deadlocked negotiations
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and KCTU officials held their third round of negotiations from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Saturday, only to end in disagreement.
The ministry said the hours of discussion ended up confirming that both sides agreed to disagree on how to proceed.
"The truckers refused to budge from their initial demand that the system be unconditionally extended with measures to include more freight items eligible for the law," the ministry said in a statement. "We explained that logistics operators are calling for the abolishment of the system, citing the unverified causal relationship between the system and the decrease of road accidents due to lack of sleep or freight trucks being overloaded."
Policy implementation in the coming months will duly reflect the concerns of the truckers, but the meeting participants dismissed the suggestion, the ministry said.
"We made it clear that we understood the need to guarantee a certain amount of income for truckers, but the discussion had to end after they repeatedly claimed that nothing other than the unconditional full extension of the system will be accepted," it said.
Meanwhile, six organizations representing the interests of businesses issued a statement, demanding that the striking truckers immediately halt the collective action. Among them are the Korea International Trade Association, the Korea Enterprises Federation and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
"We are deeply concerned about what is increasingly becoming an indefinite strike causing major disruptions in the economy," the group said in a statement.
"Korea is still reeling from years of global supply chain disruptions, and recent soaring raw input material and logistics costs. The collective action by the truckers will weigh heavily on the economy and undercut local businesses' relationship with their overseas counterparts, mostly because of delivery delays and overall downgrade in trustworthiness," it stated.
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