[Inside Chodong] The Cost of Stoppage

Strikes, Stopgap Measures, and More Strikes
A Society Stuck in a Cycle Without Fundamental Solutions

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] On the 25th of last month, when non-regular school workers engaged in care and meal services went on strike, an elementary school where my child attends provided temporary substitute meals consisting of 40g of cup fruit, a 55g almond muffin, and 240ml of banana-flavored milk. Worried that the provided food might be insufficient, despite being a dual-income working parent, I woke up early to prepare a simple rice ball lunchbox.

On that day, when regular classes continued past 2 p.m., my child came home from school and talked about how many friends were hungry throughout the day. Although the substitute menu had been shared in advance, I had not realized that 40g of cup fruit was just one small grape, one cherry tomato, and a similarly sized piece of pineapple, and that the 55g muffin was smaller than a child's fist-sized bread.

At that moment, I felt grateful that I had the time to prepare a lunchbox, and I worried about how anxious other parents must have been who, pressed for time in the morning, could not even prepare this. At the same time, I was relieved that such a strike did not continue and ended in one day. Around me, there was dissatisfaction about the strike being carried out using children as hostages, and debates arose about how poor the working conditions and treatment of non-regular meal service workers must be to push them to strike.

A much larger-scale Cargo Solidarity Union general strike has been ongoing for over a week. Industries driving the national economy such as cement, petrochemicals, petroleum, steel, and automobiles are estimating damages in the hundreds of billions to trillions of won due to cargo transport delays and stoppages caused by the Cargo Solidarity Union's refusal to transport, warning that factory operations are on the verge of halting, and appealing for the strike to end. On the other hand, cargo truck drivers (owners) affiliated with the Cargo Solidarity Union are strongly determined to continue the strike unless the government accepts their demands to abolish the sunset clause of the Safe Freight Rate System and expand the applicable items.

The most distressed in the middle of this are ordinary citizens. If the Safe Freight Rate System, which guarantees minimum transport fees to cargo truck drivers as the Cargo Solidarity Union demands, is permanently and fully expanded, the current strike situation would be resolved, but it would lead to increased logistics costs in major industries, ultimately increasing the burden on ordinary citizens due to rising prices. Conversely, if the government’s position is followed to extend the Safe Freight Rate System only for container and cement items for three more years without expanding the applicable items, most cargo truck drivers will remain trapped in poor working conditions with low fees, overloading, fatigue, and safety accidents. Unless the government and the Cargo Solidarity Union find a fundamental solution through dialogue, regardless of whether the strike continues or ends, the damage will ultimately be borne by ordinary citizens and our economy.

The most regrettable point is that despite having sufficient time and parties to discuss to avoid the strike, precious time that could have resolved the issue was wasted, and only after facing the worst situation did they enter the negotiation and adjustment phase. When workers went on strike in June to ensure the expansion and establishment of the Safe Freight Rate System that guarantees their right to livelihood, the government succeeded in stopping the strike by stating it would "discuss" the matter, but despite ample time since then, it has failed to come up with an appropriate solution.

Now, not only cargo transport but also the subway, which serves as the lifeline for ordinary citizens, is facing a strike crisis. The Seoul Metro Corporation, which operates subway lines 1 to 8 in Seoul, has entered a general strike since the day before after failing to reach a compromise over workforce reductions. Again, the pain is borne entirely by ordinary citizens.

In the process of a tense tug-of-war for mutual rights and benefits, strikes that cause suffering to ordinary citizens and have more economic disadvantages than advantages should never occur except as a worst-case scenario. The complacent attitude of only appearing at the negotiation table after a strike has begun, and the tendency to resort to strikes first when dialogue fails, only leads to presenting another temporary and makeshift solution to stop the immediate strike.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.