[Editorial] Rail Strike Ends with Issues Unresolved

The union of Korean Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) suspended its strike two days ago. Demanding the strengthening of the corporation’s public nature and the boosting of personnel, the union decided to return to work on the fourth day of the strike, which began on March 1. Accordingly, a worst-case scenario of a full-on clash between labor and the government and serious transportation trouble was avoided, but the issues that formed the background to the strike were passed on just as they were.

This strike was a little different from normal strikes. Rather than focusing on wage increases or better treatment, the major background issues were the public nature of KORAIL and the resolution of the company’s debt. The union claimed that corporate management emphasizing profitability--including the reduction of routes loosing money, the reduction of benefits for the “transportationally disadvantaged” and the slashing of personnel costs--threatened the public nature of the railroads and passenger safety. The particular emphasis on improving work conditions and boosting personnel in expectation of reducing the danger of accidents is connected to this. The reinstatement of fired workers and the regularization of the positions of female attendants on the KTX bullet trains were also reasonable demands in their own sort of way.

But the government, which held the key to resolving the issues, far from listening attentively to union’s claims instead strongly suppressed the strike. It did not hesitate from the radical response of chasing down and arresting the widely dispersed unionists. KORAIL, too, relieved many strike participants of their positions and declared it would sue all the strike participants for damages. The other conflicts and frictions that will result from the hasty response in repressing the union rather than resolving the issues are very worrisome.

The government’s and KORAIL’s hardline response is also partially the result of critical opinion against the union led and highlighted by the conservative media. The forces that before condemned strikes for wage increases as “group selfishness” this time around stressed how the union was causing “discomfort to the people” without looking carefully at the unionists’ demands. Setting aside recognizing the union’s right to strike, ignoring the unionists’ cries that they were striking “for the long-term safety of the railways” will only cause problems. And one must realize that the price to pay is that even greater discomfort could befall the people.

The Hankyoreh, 6 March 2006.

[Translations by Seoul Selection]