South Korean truck drivers participated in rallies across the country on Friday to protest rising fuel costs and called on the government to ensure minimum wages.
The Korea Cargo Transport Workers Union and government sources said the drivers have ceased services in major ports, including Busan, Incheon, Gunsan, Pyeongtaek and other parts of the country.
They said in the port city of Incheon west of Seoul, the strike has effectively disrupted normal operations, with only 10 percent of trucks handling loads. Companies like Hyundai Steel said the walkout has severely limited shipments to customers and the delivery of scrap metal.
Government authorities said a major source of concern is that many non-union drivers have joined the strike that officially began at midnight.
Officials from the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs held last-minute talks with truck drivers to persuade them to call off the strike, but made no headway.
"There was little room for negotiations at the talks that lasted 30 minutes," said a ministry official. He said no dates have been set for the next round of talks to find middle ground.
Reflecting the gap in views, truckers and their umbrella union said the government should listen to legitimate grievances.
"The current charges for transporting freight have remained unchanged since 2004," said a truck driver from Busan, who gave his name as Kim. He claimed that the present delivery charge was set when diesel fuel cost 900 won (0.87 U.S. dollars) per liter. This has since risen by more than 1,000 won to 1,912 won on average for this week.
"The more you drive, the more money you lose," he said.
Members of the transport union agreed earlier this week to take to the streets to voice their complaints about the government's latest policies to deal with rising crude oil prices. The umbrella union said recent measures have failed to address the plight of people who have to use fuel for their livelihoods.
Last Sunday, the government announced that it will spend over 10 trillion won (9.77 billion dollars) over the next year as part of a comprehensive policy package meant to help citizens deal with record-breaking oil costs.
The strike comes at a sensitive time for the government, which has been under pressure since massive street protests began in May against President Lee Myung-bak's decision to resume U.S. beef imports.
The truck drivers are urging the government to lower diesel fuel costs, raise fees for hauling freight to reflect market conditions and introduce a standardized pricing system for truckers that can ensure minimum wages for services rendered.
Another trucker, whose surname is Lee, said he is not earning enough to cover costs to drive from Busan to Gumi. Gumi is home to many consumer electronics makers, and lies 170 kilometers northwest of the country's largest port city.
"I earn 280,000 won a day. I pay 209,990 won for diesel fuel, 39,600 won for tolls, 8,800 won for mediation fees and 10,000 won for meals. There's only 8,010 won left," he said. "If I pay for an oil change or tires, insurance fees, taxes and other extra expenses, I'm in the red by an average of 71,000 won a month."
The 13,000 members of the union account for only 3-4 percent of all commercial vehicle drivers, but many drive large container-hauling trucks, which are critical to the country's ability to haul freight by road.
South Korea's worst-ever truckers' strike in May 2003 lasted two weeks and cost the nation roughly 540 million dollars. Reports here say this year's strike could be worse, as non-union members are staying away from their trucks in the face of skyrocketing fuel prices and unrealistic service charges.
Many South Korean ports reported they were affected by the truckers strike which started Thursday. In Busan, 83 percent of all containers in the city's seven ports have been locked down since Thursday.
"Unless certain countermeasures are taken, within three days the city of Busan won't be able to deal with the situation," an official at a Busan shipping company said on the condition of anonymity, adding that imports will not be able to be unloaded, nor exports loaded.
Busan handles 76 percent of all the nation's shipping.
The Korea International Trade Association said Friday that export goods worth 660 million dollars have been backlogged this week due to the strike.
The South Korean military said Friday it has mobilized dozens of 69-ton container trucks. Sixty-five trucks were mobilized early Friday, including 25 bound for Busan, to help ease the distribution difficulties in the country. The military has said it will mobilize an additional 35 trucks.
Source:Xinhua
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