SEOUL - South Korea’s government on Tuesday ordered striking truckers in the cement industry to return to work, an unprecedented step that invokes tough strike-busting laws as construction sites nationwide run out of building materials.is causing an estimated 300 billion won in losses daily and disrupting industrial activity at a time when Asia’s fourth-largest economy expects a slump in growth to 1.7 per cent next year.
It added that the industry had shipped about 22,000 tonnes of cement on Monday, about 10 per cent of the usual daily shipments needed for peak season between September and early December. The Yoon administration is the first in the country’s history to issue an order forcing striking transport workers back to their jobs.
Strike organiser Cargo Truckers Solidarity Union called the start-work order “undemocratic and anti-constitutional”, and evidence of the government’s unwillingness to engage in dialogue.The union plans to hold 16 rallies nationwide on Tuesday, it added.