GOV’T EXPANDS RETURN-TO-WORK ORDER

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With truckers' strike seeing its 15th day, the government Thursday expanded its return-to-work order for truck owners in the steel and petrochemical industries. From this afternoon, it will also head out for an on-site inspection on transport businesses.

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At an extraordinary Cabinet meeting held this morning, the government widened the scope of the return-to-work order for striking truckers to include the steel and petrochemical sectors. The expansion came nine days after it issued a previous return-to-work order for cement truckers on November 29th. The government explained that the situation is too urgent and grim to wait longer for the striking truckers to return to work willingly. It added, disrupted deliveries of steel and petrochemical products could send serious repercussions to the nation’s other key, flagship industries including automobiles, ship-building and semiconductors.

[Soundbite] Choo Kyung-ho(Deputy Prime Minister for Economy) : "In comprehensive consideration of damage and repercussions caused by the strike, we have decided to expand the return-to-work order to the steel and petrochemical sectors."

The government immediately enforced the return-to-work order for steel and petrochemical truckers. It is estimated that the order targets a total of over 10,000 striking truckers—-6,000 in the steel and 4,500 in the petrochemical setors. There are about 200 transportation companies serving these two industries. The government set up a joint team to conduct on-site investigations into what is happening at the delivery companies starting this afternoon. Transport businesses and truck owners must return to work by midnight of the day after they receive the order. The return-to-work order is as strict as that of cement truckers. Those who continue to refuse to resume operations without due reasons will be given administrative penalties, including a 30-day suspension of operations or licensing. The Cargo Truckers’ Solidarity denounced the expansion of the return-to-work order as unreasonable and excessive. It criticized the government for taking sides with conglomerates and only promoting their interest while paying no attention to economic issues and the lives of the people. The solidarity said President Yoon Suk-yeol is unfairly issuing accusations based on exaggerated interpretations of reports about select members going to extremes. It also urged the government to stop unjustified accusations against it and guarantee laborers’ right to strike as stipulated in the Constitution.