Korea President Lee Says No to Railway Workers’ Plan for Strike
Korea President Lee Says No to Railway Workers’ Plan for Strike
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/11/116_34597.html
11-18-2008 16:56
Lee Says No to Railway Workers’ Plan for Strike
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak warned Tuesday that Korea Railroad union workers should not go on strike as they plan to do Thursday.
``It doesn't make sense that state-run firm workers go on strike because their demand for rehiring union workers who were laid off has not been met, given the global economy is in crisis,'' said Lee during a video Cabinet meeting.
Lee is on an official visit to Brazil after attending the Group of 20 summit in the United States and presided over the online meeting from Sao Paulo.
``Labor may argue that they have good reason to resort to strikes, but it's clear that now is not the time,'' he said.
Lee said many people were worrying about losing their jobs amid the tough economic environment.
The President called on the management of the railroad corporation to persuade its union not to resort to extreme measures.
Representatives of the state-run firm's management and the union sat down Monday for negotiations on the demands.
Unionists called on management to withdraw a restructuring plan, improve working conditions and change some union members' temporary work agreements into permanent ones.
The two sides failed to narrow the gap in negotiations, which led union workers to announce a strike that will start from Thursday.
Shim Hyuk-yoon, acting president of Korea Railroad, told reporters that management would make every effort to help prevent the strikes but he would stand firm if labor launches them as scheduled.
Along with the worries over strikes, President Lee also directed ministers to take effective policy measures to push market interest rates down.
``Governments all over the world are cutting interest rates. So did the Bank of Korea, by cutting the rate to the 4-percent range. But the measure has not affected market interest rates,'' he said.
Lee directed his team to implement policy packages that can lead to cutting interest rates associated with working-class families' household burdens.
``Before leaving Korea, I was briefed that companies were in deep trouble due to the unavailability of bank loans, which concerned me a lot. The ministries should implement policies that can help both exporters and importers secure enough foreign currency,'' Lee said.
hkang@koreatimes.co.kr