S. Korea warns of economic damage if truckers strike

SEOUL: South Korea’s prime minister urged unionised truckers to scrap plans to go on strike this week to spare the economy what he called paralysis and irreversible damage, fuelling fears for the post-pandemic recovery of global supply chains.

For the second time in less than six months, the trucking union in major exporter South Korea has threatened a nationwide strike on Thursday which could disrupt manufacturing and fuel supplies in the world’s top 10th economy.

The strike coincides with a worldwide increase in industrial action sparked by a slowdown in the global economy, and a surge in inflation and fuel costs.

“The union’s refusal to transport would cause irreparable damage to the national economy beyond logistics paralysis,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said.

“In the worst case, it could lead to the collapse of the logistics system, cutting our industries’ external credibility and threatening global competitiveness.”

In June, an eight-day strike by South Korean truckers delayed cargo shipments of products ranging from autos to semiconductors in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, costing more than Us$1.2bil (Rm5.5bil) in lost output and unmet deliveries.

The Cargo Truckers Solidarity Union, which has called for the strike, wants the government to extend beyond December its “Safe Trucking Freight Rate”, a policy put in place during the Covid-19 pandemic that guarantees a minimum annual wage.