KCTU files lawsuit against government’s ‘start-work’ order

The Cargo Truckers Solidarity Headquarters under the Public Transport Workers' Union of the Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) filed an administrative lawsuit, demanding the government to take back its ‘start-work’ order. As the government is raising the response level for consecutive days, conflicts between the two sides are reaching an extreme.

The Cargo Truckers’ Union held a press conference in front of the National Human Rights Commission in Jung-gu, Seoul on Monday. “A union member filed a lawsuit with the Seoul Administrative Court against Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Minister Won Hee-ryong to cancel the ‘start work’ order,” the union said. His legal representative explained that filing an injunction is under review after the government’s follow-up measures.”

The government is continuing its hard-line response, advocating ‘law and principle.’ In a recent closed meeting, President Yoon Suk-yeol allegedly ordered a strict response to the cargo union's strike, citing North Korea's increased nuclear threat, and said, "If we give in to illegal acts and violence, the vicious cycle will only repeat." It appears that the Yoon administration believes the situation has worsened due to the previous administrations that responded to the North’s nuclear issue and the KCTU strike without any standards. "The administration always defines the relations between the labor and government a conflicting one and dismisses people’s safety issue as a matter of loss and gain,” the Public Transport Workers’ Union said on Monday regarding President Yoon's remarks. “The president, who emphasized the rule of law, fairness, and common sense, left the politics leaving only stubbornness, confrontation, and catastrophe.”

As announced earlier, the KCTU will hold simultaneous general strikes and all-out battles across the country on Tuesday. However, the number of participants in the rally is projected to be limited because there are not many places allowed for strikes and they are to be held on the weekday.


Ae-Jin Ju jaj@donga.com · Joo-Young Jeon aimhigh@donga.com