Three Cargo Solidarity Union Members Caught Red-Handed at Busan New Port for Throwing Lighter and Assaulting Police

Stopped freight vehicle. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Du-yeol] Three members of the Cargo Solidarity Union, who are on a general strike, were arrested by the police on charges of obstruction of business and obstruction of official duties.

According to the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, at around 10:45 a.m. on the 29th, three union members were arrested on charges of obstruction of business and obstruction of official duties on the street in front of the Seonwon Hall in Sinhang, Gangseo-gu, Busan.

Union member A was charged with obstruction of business for throwing a lighter at the windshield of a moving trailer vehicle.

Union members B and C, who were nearby, are accused of obstruction of official duties for throwing water bottles and assaulting two police officers while trying to prevent A's arrest.

The driver who was in the vehicle at the time was not injured, but the two assaulted police officers sustained bruises and other injuries and are scheduled to receive treatment at a hospital.

The Safe Freight Rate System, which triggered this Cargo Solidarity strike, is a system that stipulates the minimum transportation cost for truck owners, and imposes fines on cargo owners if they pay rates lower than the set standard freight rates. It was introduced as a three-year sunset system valid from 2020 to 2022.

On the 22nd, the ruling party and government proposed extending this period by three years, but the Cargo Solidarity Union has stated that they will continue the general strike to demand an 'expansion of applicable items.'

The Cargo Solidarity Union is conducting the strike demanding the expansion of the types and items subject to the Safe Freight Rate System from the existing container and cement transport vehicles to five items: steel products, automobiles, hazardous materials, feed and grains, and parcel delivery trunk and feeder services.