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South Korea intervenes to end pilot strike
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-12 08:54
South Korea's government on Sunday ordered striking pilots at the country's
largest airline back to work, showing again that it refuses to tolerate unrest
threatening the national economy.
Labor Minister Kim Dae-hwan announced the emergency step on the fourth day of
the walkout at Korean Air Co., which began early Thursday when unionized pilots
left their cockpits seeking higher pay.
The intervention marked the fourth time since 1969 錕斤拷 and the second this year
錕斤拷 that the government has utilized its right to bust strikes in crucial
industries.
Korean Air, the nation's largest passenger carrier and world's biggest cargo
airline, was forced to cancel hundreds of flights, including domestic and
international passenger service as well as cargo routes.
The airline flies over much of the world, with an extensive passenger
network.
Unionised pilots of Korean Air shout slogans
at a rally after the government's emergency mediation to end their strike
in Inchon, west of Seoul December 11, 2005.
[Reuters] | More importantly from the government's perspective, it also transports
products produced by Samsung Electronics Co. and other industrial behemoths that
have helped make South Korea the world's 11th-largest economy, and a top
exporter.
The government signaled its intentions early on, indicating it wouldn't wait
the 25 days it took before ending a walkout by pilots at Asiana Airlines Inc.,
the second-largest carrier, in July and August.
"The repeated strikes by airlines are hurting the competitive power of the
national economy as well as its credibility," Kim told a nationally televised
news conference, saying it was "very regrettable" that the government was forced
to act.
"The losses incurred by the strike at Korean Air are five to six times that
of Asiana," Kim said, citing in particular harm to exporters of high-technology
goods.
South Korea is home to major exporters such as Samsung, which makes
flat-screen televisions, personal computers and digital music players as well as
components like memory chips and semiconductors.
The government also invoked its authority to stop labor unrest in 1993 at
Hyundai Motor Co. and in 1969 at Korea Shipbuilding Corp.
The government's powers allow the ministry to order strikers back to work and
make the two sides negotiate further. If they fail to reach an agreement, the
government can force one through a special arbitration body.
Korean Air union spokesman Park Byung-ryul, who said pilots voted by an
overwhelming 80 percent to adhere to the order, criticized the move.
"It's unfair," he said, adding that government intervention means management
never had to change its negotiating position.
Park, who flies long-haul Boeing 747-400 jets for the airline, also called
the action "harmful to future relations" between the company and the labor
union.
The union made several compromises after the strike began. Korean Air made
none, sticking with its offer of a 2.5 percent increase in basic pay, which
pilots had criticized as insufficient.
In 2004, captains at Korean Air earned an average of 120 million won
($116,000) in total compensation including basic pay, flight pay and bonuses,
according to the airline. First officers earned an average of 88 million won
($85,000).
Korean Air plans to resume full cargo service and operate half of its
domestic flights on Monday and offer complete international service on Tuesday,
said airline spokesman Song Hun-seok.
The government estimates that a total of 723 flights out of 1,174 scheduled
were suspended during the strike, with about 98,000 passengers and 7,130 tons of
cargo affected.
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