UNIONIZED TRUCK DRIVERS' STRIKE CONTINUES

[Anchor Lead]

The unionized truck drivers' strike has entered a fourth day, hampering operations at multiple business sites nationwide. The impact of the strike has spread to cement companies, the automotive sector and even hydrogen recharging stations.

[Pkg]

A ready-mix concrete company in Seoul. It is usually crowded with mixer trucks transporting cement, but that's no longer the case. Its storage facility has run out of cement. Eventually, the factory halted operations.

[Soundbite] (Staff at Ready-mix Concrete Company) : "We used to have 40-50 bulk trucks arriving every day on average, but now we have none. We have run out of cement completely."

According to the Korea Cement Association, companies have sustained losses of over 45 billion won just three days after unionized truck drivers launched their strike. There is no way to transport cement from factories producing and mixing it to construction sites. The impact has now spread to the construction sector as well. Builders have no choice but to postpone cement related procedures for now. If the strike continues, delays in construction will be inevitable.

[Soundbite] (Staff at Construction Company) : "There is only so much we can do without cement. We can't keep postponing cement placement."

The automotive sector is also hit hard by the strike. With unionized truckers refusing to transport car components, Hyundai's Ulsan factory is repeatedly suspending the operation of its production lines.

[Soundbite] Kim Ju-hong(Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association) : "Automakers must receive components on time, but right now inventories are piling up. Sales revenues will inevitably fall."

The impact of the strike has spread beyond the industrial sector. This hydrogen recharging station is closed, even though it's the busiest time of day... because there are no trucks to transport hydrogen.

[Soundbite] (Staff at Hydrogen Recharging Station) : "Sorry. We've run out of hydrogen because of the truck drivers' strike. (I've come three times already)."

So far, 16 hydrogen recharging stations nationwide have run out of hydrogen and were forced to close. The operation of four hydrogen buses in Seoul has been suspended.