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(LEAD) Police raid offices of striking rail workers
By Kim Eun-jung
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Yonhap) -- Police investigators on Tuesday raided the offices of the Korea Railroad (KORAIL) union in Seoul, accusing its leaders of masterminding the ongoing "illegal" strike as it took a heavy toll on the nation's transportation system entering a sixth day.
The extended strike by about 16,000 unionized KORAIL workers is facing a strong crackdown by the government and the management of the state-funded company, which hold the union responsible for passenger inconveniences and backlogged freight.
The striking workers have refused to accept the management's plan to cut pay and downsize staff, steps meant to cope with mounting debts at KORAIL.
Police investigators and government officials charge the strike has political aims, violating the country's labor law. They say it is meant to oppose the Lee Myung-bak government's reform policy downsizing the public sector.
"We have obtained arrest warrants for union leaders, but haven't been able to arrest them yet," a police source said, noting they are looking into the whereabouts of 15 leaders on the run.
KORAIL on Monday filed complaints against 182 unionists for interfering with business, claiming the illegal strike caused about 4.7 billion won (US$4 million) worth of operational damage to the company.
KORAIL's union leaders said the strike is legitimate, as it follows disputes with the company over pay and working conditions that were not resolved by repeated rounds of talks. The union has demanded a 6 percent pay raise for workers, even as the government moves to reduce welfare benefits to ease the troubled company's heavy debt burden.
On Tuesday, the sixth day of the strike, the KTX bullet-train and metropolitan subway lines were operating on a normal schedule, but ordinary passenger trains were running at about 60 percent of their normal capacity, according to KORAIL.
The operation rate of trains to and from the Uiwang Inland Container Depot, the nation's main logistics hub near Seoul, stood at about 30 percent, officials said.
Government efforts to move freight were confounded Monday when a truckers union refused to provide alternative transport in a show of solidarity.
"It seems like the truckers union's refusal to provide alternative transportation will aggravate the burdens experienced by shipping companies here, despite our efforts to improve the situation," a container depot official said.
Following the law enforcement's crackdown on the union, ministers and senior government officials held a meeting Tuesday to discuss ways to deal with the protracted walkout and released a joint statement urging the striking rail workers to get back to work as soon as possible.
"South Korea has yet to overcome the economic crisis. But the KORAIL union has launched a strike to look after their own interest, failing to fulfill its obligation to serve people as a public company," said the statement read by Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun at a news conference.
"This walkout is not about working conditions, but the union's opposition to the government's labor policy. This goes beyond the legitimate authority given to the labor union, which makes the strike illegal," the statement said. "Although the government will guarantee a legitimate walkout to improve working conditions, it will take stern action against any illegal activities."
The announcement comes after President Lee called for strong action against striking public workers on the third day of KORAIL union's strike, calling unionists' demands unreasonable and selfish considering the guarantee of lifetime employment given to them.
Amid escalating tension between the government and the labor circle, the Labor Ministry Tuesday decided to shut down the Korea Labor Institute (KLI), a government think tank, due to its union's prolonged strike for over two months, officials said. It is the first state institute to be closed by the government for a labor dispute.
Over 50 KLI researchers launched the walkout in late September in protest of the institute's decision in February to nullify contract wage and working conditions. The walkout raised concerns about the neutrality of their research activity.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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