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KORAIL, union clash head on

The state-run rail operator and its striking union clashed head-on Friday as both sides hardened their stances following the collapse of their working-level negotiations.

Korea Railroad Corp. chief executive Choi Yeon-hye issued an ultimatum to the striking union members, setting the deadline for returning to work at midnight or face dismissal.

The union raised the stakes calling for a dialogue involving various political and social groups while its officials took refuge at the headquarters of the main opposition party, the largest Buddhist order and a major labor federation.

KORAIL’s union has been on a general strike since Dec. 9 in protest of the company’s plans to place a KTX bullet train route under control of a new subsidiary.

The unionists claim that the plan was a step toward railway privatization despite repeated denials from the company and the government.

“Please return (to work) by midnight. Those who do not will be deemed to have no intention of returning, and appropriate measures will be taken,” Choi said in a press conference.

She said that the 10-hour talks carried out overnight were fruitless. The negotiations resumed early Friday but fell apart in less than two hours. At present about 37 percent of KORAIL’s 20,443 employees are on strike. So far, 13.3 percent or about 1,170 workers who initially joined the walkout have resumed their duties.

“KORAIL will have no part in any collusion based on hidden agreements, and will not yield nor compromise without justification under any circumstances,” she said.

Choi also said that the company will continue to recruit new workers as needed to normalize operations. On Thursday the company announced that it will hire 660 new workers to replace those removed for their part in the strike.

The union, for its part, remained unfazed, demanding once again that the government first scrap its plans in order for negotiations to resume.

“We can end the strike if the government stops issuing the corporate license for the Suseo KTX company, and engage in a societal discussion regarding railway development plans,” railway union chief Kim Myung-hwan said at a press conference at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions’ office in Seoul.

The new bullet train route at the center of the dispute will run from Suseo in southwestern Seoul.

He added that the government’s announcement regarding benefits offered to KORAIL workers’ was a “horror story aimed at misleading the public.”

As the two sides dig in their heels, railway union secretary general Choi Eun-cheol took refuge in the headquarters of the main opposition Democratic Party on Friday involving yet another heavyweight directly into the fray. The DP, which sides with the union, said that it will accommodate the unionist as much as possible.

In addition to Choi, railway union chief Kim Myung-hwan is under the protection of the KCTU, while his deputy Park Tae-man has chosen to evade arrest behind the walls of the country’s largest Buddhist order Jogye.

Although the police have been trying to apprehend the union leaders since mid-December, its attempts have not only failed but also set umbrella unions against the government.

Following the unprecedented, and failed, raid on its office, the KCTU has declared that it will stage a general strike and campaign to end the Park Geun-hye administration. The normally more moderate Federation of Korean Trade Unions has also declared its support for the cause.

As the railway union gathers support, the ruling Saenuri Party is intensifying the attack on the union and its allies saying that “forces denying the presidential election” were forming a united front.

“(KORAIL) must not make compromises that push KORAIL towards laxness and insolvency. The railroads must be transformed into railroads that serve the people not the union,” Saenuri Party floor leader Rep. Choi Kyung-hwan said. He added that the DP was blindly following the railway union despite it being the “originator of railroad reform.”

“It must be remembered that KORAIL will forever remain a drain for taxpayers’ money if the union’s illegal strike and hard-line protest are allowed to be.”

By Choi He-suk

(cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)