FKI: "Government's Work Commencement Order Inevitable... Hope for Dialogue and Compromise"

Position on the Cargo Solidarity Work Commencement Order

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI) issued a statement regarding the Cargo Solidarity Union's work commencement order, calling it an "inevitable measure to respond to the crisis situation," and criticized the continuation of the collective transportation refusal as lacking justification.

On the 29th, the FKI, through a statement signed by Economic Headquarters Director Choo Kwang-ho, said, "Recently, our economy is facing difficulties due to high inflation, high interest rates, and high exchange rates, and is in crisis as exports, the backbone of the economy, are shaken by global economic contraction and supply chain instability." It pointed out, "In this situation, the collective transportation refusal, which holds logistics?the lifeblood of the national economy?hostage, only deepens the economic crisis and exacerbates the difficulties in people's lives."

It added, "The government's issuance of the work commencement order is an inevitable measure to respond to such a crisis situation," and explained, "The core demand of the Cargo Solidarity Union, the Safe Freight Rate System, is a system that is hard to find precedent for overseas and whose effectiveness has not been proven, but the government has announced that it will extend the Safe Freight Rate System for three years in response to the union's demands. In this situation, continuing the collective transportation refusal lacks justification."

Furthermore, it urged, "Now is the time for all economic actors to unite their efforts to overcome the crisis," and requested, "We hope the Cargo Solidarity Union will stop the collective transportation refusal even now and engage in reasonable dialogue and compromise."

As the Cargo Solidarity Union's collective transportation refusal continues into its sixth day, the government issued a work commencement order for cement transport vehicles on the same day. President Yoon Suk-yeol said regarding the Cargo Solidarity Union's general strike, "The government inevitably issues a work commencement order against those refusing transportation in the cement sector today to prevent a more serious crisis that could affect our people's livelihood and the national economy." He added, "Logistics such as cement and steel have been halted, causing construction and production sites nationwide to stop, putting our industrial base at risk of devastation and threatening the daily lives of our citizens."