Asia Times: Seoul threatens to fire subway strikers, arrest leaders



	April 22, 1999	atimes.com

The Koreas

Seoul threatens to fire subway strikers, arrest leaders

South Korea threatened todismiss striking subway workers and arrest 23 of their leaderson Wednesday unless they return to their jobs.

''We're seeking arrest warrants for all subway union leadersto return the subway system to normal as soon aspossible,'' said Shin Tae Young, a prosecutor at the Seouldistrict prosecutor's office.

The government is taking a tough stance against labor unrestas it tries to revitalize the economy by attracting foreigncapital. During the past year, South Korea's economy shrank almost 6percent and the jobless rate tripled, reaching 8.7 percent inFebruary.

On Tuesday, Daewoo Group's 7,800 unionized shipyard workers wenton strike and demanded that the company's chairman resign. Theywere protesting plans by South Korea's second-biggest industrial groupto sell its shipbuilding unit.

In a statement released by the Blue House, the office of theSouth Korean presidency, President Kim Dae-jung demanded animmediate end to the subway strike.

''We cannot allow the subway strike, because it does notconform to legal procedures. Deal with it firmly,'' Kim wasquoted as telling the country's ministers of labor and justiceafter a briefing.

''The people and the world are closely watching thestrike,'' he said. ''It's not a problem for the city of Seoulalone. Please do all you can to settle this peacefully."

The subway strike - the largest in South Korea sinceHyundai Motor Co. unions all but shut down the country's biggestautomaker for three months last summer - comes as Korea's mainunion group prepares for a general strike around May 1.

Labor unrest in Korea traditionally peaks in the spring.Last year was an exception as workers accepted the necessity ofeconomic reform after South Korea entered an InternationalMonetary Fund bailout program.

Some 42,000 union workers at Korea Telecom Co., the nation'slargest telephone company, said would put down their tools on Mondayafter 75.6 percent of their members voted to strike.

Korea Telecom's union is the largest in the country, and theimpact of a prolonged strike could be significant. Still, aspokesman said the company doesn't expect any major systemdisruptions from the planned strike because most of its systemshave been automated.

The Korea Confederation of Trade Unions, the country'ssecond-largest labor group, has predicted that 80,000 workersbelonging to 35 unions will strike on Monday. It hopes to keepunion members in a militant mood for a huge rally planned for May Day.

Ten minor accidents occurred on the first day of the subwaystrike Monday. One person was injured after being trampled ina crowd, and angry commuters smashed windows at one station Mondaynight after waiting more than an hour for trains back home.

''Innocent people are suffering from inconveniences andsafety fears,'' said Huh Jung-ho, an official of the Seoul citygovernment. ''The real test is tomorrow, when the replacementstaff will be exhausted after working for three straight days."

Huh said the city government found evidence that half of the10 incidents that occurred Monday, such as train doors that failed to close, were intentionally caused by the strikers.

About 18 percent of the 9,757 striking workers resumedtheir jobs Monterday, Huh said. Most of Seoul's eight subwaylines ran normally Tuesday.

The Seoul government plans to reduce the subway work force to9,414 from 11,492. The system currently has 85 employees perkilometer of track, compared with 46 for London and 66 for Tokyo.Management also wants to increase the workload to 20 days a monthfrom 18 and offer loans instead of free education for children ofsubway workers.

The subway system lost 345 billion won ($283 million) lastyear and has 3.5 trillion won in debts.

(Bloomberg)

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