Thousands Of South Korean Unionized Workers Hold Nationwide Rallies - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th December, 2022) Thousands of unionized workers in South Korea have been staging protest rallies across the country on Tuesday to denounce the government's return-to-work order issued to end the ongoing cargo truckers' strike, South Korean media reported.

The second truck drivers' strike in less than six months kicked off in South Korea on November 24 amid soaring fuel prices. Drivers have been calling on the South Korean government to expand the Safe Freight Rate minimum-pay system, which is set to expire at the end of 2022. On November 25, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol warned that Seoul may issue an order forcing long-distance truckers to return to work.

According to the Yonhap news agency, members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) simultaneously began the protests at 15 locations across the country to support the truckers' general strike.

About 3,500 KCTU members joined a rally held at an inland container depot in the city of Uiwang, located 25 kilometers (16 miles) south of Seoul, the report said, while another thousand gathered near Hyundai Steel factory in the city of Dangjin, 80 kilometers southwest of the South Korean capital.

Protests also took place in the cities of Busan, Incheon, Gwangju, and on Jeju Island.

The nationwide rallies have led to a disruption in the supply of goods worth about 3.5 trillion won ($2.69 billion) in five key sectors, including steel, cement and cars, according to Yonhap.

In June, truckers in South Korea went on a strike to protest the abandonment of the Safe Trucking Freight Rates System, which was introduced in 2020 and was set to expire at the end of this year with no possibility for renewal. Cargo Truckers Solidarity and the government reached a consensus on the matter, including the continuation and expansion of fuel subsidies in light of rising prices for petroleum and other fuels, as well as a "reasonable" adjustment of transport charges.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, the strike resulted in significant economic losses worth 1.6 trillion won (about $1.24 billion) for several major spheres of the economy, including the automotive, steel, petrochemical and cement industries.