Korea Post unionized postal delivery workers in the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) hold a press conference in Yongsan District, Seoul. May 25. Korea Times file

By Lee Kyung-min

The planned nationwide strike by unionized Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) postal delivery workers is fueling the ongoing logistics crisis initiated by freight truckers, market watchers said on Tuesday.

The general walkout plan announced by about 1,500 Korea Post (KP) workers on Saturday is expected to amplify fears of a major economic shutdown, with key manufacturing industries hit by the week-long strike by truckers already cornered and at risk. searching for alternative delivery methods that are expensive or incur significant short-term losses ― or even outright loss of business contracts with major customers.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, the truckers’ strike over the past eight days resulted in an estimated loss of 1.6 trillion won ($1.24 billion) on Monday. Among the hardest hit are export companies, including auto, steel, petrochemical and concrete manufacturers, most of which are suffering from a lack of storage facilities, leading to a reduction in production.

Unionized KP workers said on Monday they will have no choice but to resort to industrial action, a majority decision prompted by their employers’ reluctance to agree to mutually agreeable terms of the contract, mainly on wages and layoffs.

“The KP management has offered unacceptable bargaining conditions at the last minute which we consider to be a slavery contract,” unionized KP workers said in a statement on Monday.

“The so-called labor contract is nothing but a management-friendly measure that justifies wage cuts and easy layoffs. How do you accept management increasing delivery costs while cutting workers and workers’ wages? We reject all of these sneaky ideas, whose sole purpose is to toe the line of the new Yoon Suk-yeol administration.”

The recent decision by law enforcement authorities to arrest KCTU protesters reveals the new government’s warped way of cracking down on democratically organized trade unions, they added. “The KCTU hereby pledges full and unwavering collective action to make our voices heard.”

Workers said they would hold a rally on Saturday, which would be followed by similar smaller protests every Monday in parts of the country.

The impassioned response of KP workers and efforts to secure wage increases are very likely to strengthen the case of the truckers, who are calling for the extension and expansion of minimum freight rates to avoid freight overload and the sleep deprivation while on the road, as indicated by the Safe Trucking Freight Rates System. The system, in effect since 2020, guarantees a base salary for truckers, but it is due to expire on December 31.

Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Won Hee-ryong told a meeting with truckers that severe consequences, such as jail terms of up to three years or fines of 30 million won ($23,375), would ensue if they continued to “use logistics as a hostage.” to defend their own interests. »

“The minister’s visit to the site of conflict is not an indication of finding common ground for an amicable settlement, but of imminent serious legal consequences,” Won said at a container dock in Uiwang, Gyeonggi Province.