President Yoon Suk-yeol presides over a Cabinet meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on Tuesday morning. (Yonhap)
As the truckers strike ended last week, President Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday said he would hold responsible those workers who didn't comply with the state order to return to work “until the end” of his presidency.
Truckers voted to return to work after 16 days of striking on Friday after calling for the government to make permanent a minimum freight rate system that is to expire this year. During the 16 days, the government issued a “work start order” twice, first on cement truckers and then those affiliated with steel and petrochemical industries. Those in violation of the order face imprisonment or fines.
“Regrettably, this strike ended only after work start orders were issued twice,” Yoon told ministers at a Cabinet meeting. “We should hold (truckers responsible) for any illegal activities that occurred during the strike.”
He said organized illegal acts prevalent in industrial sites, such as violence, extortion, coercion of employment and construction obstruction, must also be “eradicated.”
Yoon urged law enforcement agencies, such as the police, to take responsibility and act sternly with illegalities and violence. If the state does not enforce the law “promptly and strictly,” the people, workers, and business owners will be frightened and anxious and “will not be able to do anything,” he added.
“There will be no compromise with illegality during my tenure,” he said, vowing to create a country where “laws and principles are upright.”
The government plans to uphold the administrative dispositions and criminal charges against those who refused to start work. The government estimated 3.5 trillion won ($2.6 billion) damages occurred during the strike.
During the Cabinet meeting, Yoon also stressed the legitimacy of reform on labor and health insurance, vowing to pursue it in the future.
He said improving the dual structure of the labor market, which is directly related to the competitiveness of the nation’s industry and the jobs of future generations, is "a task that cannot be postponed any longer."
The dual structure of the labor market, which emerged as a social issue following the strike by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering subcontractors, refers to the markedly different working conditions and wage systems between prime contractors and subcontractor employees.
Addressing a policy suggestion on reforming the labor market, such as making the 52-hour workweek more flexible, Yoon said the government would quickly come up with concrete measures.
The suggestion made by a local research group centers on the need to add flexibility to the current working hour system, to adopt a performance-based wage system and to apply a labor standards act for workplaces with fewer than five employees.
Yoon also pledged to reform the nation's universal health insurance system maintained by the previous Moon Jae-in government, calling it a populist policy which should be eradicated.
"Over the past five years, over 20 trillion won was poured into strengthening insurance coverage, but the government has neglected medical abuse and free rise in health insurance, passing on the burden to the majority of the people,” he said.
“Health care reform is a necessity, not an option,” he said, urging officials to strengthen health insurance benefits and eligibility criteria to prevent wasting health insurance and leaks.
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