Businesses are suffering from the disruption in logistics as the general strike launched by unionized truckers entered its third day on Thursday.
Members of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity, affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU), continued to block the passage of trucks at key ports and petrochemical complexes across the nation.
They are demanding a continuation of the so-called “Safe Trucking Freight Rates System,” which guarantees minimum freight rates for truck drivers, set to expire at the end of this year.
The Korea Cement Association said that with the walkout, cement shipments slipped from a daily average of 180-thousand tons to 13-thousand tons as of Wednesday, resulting in 15-and-a-half billion won in lost sales.
Steel producers, including POSCO and Hyundai Steel, saw a delay in the shipment of 75-thousand tons of steel as of Wednesday while some tire companies also saw disruptions in distribution.
With the suspension in cement shipments, many ready-mix concrete plants were forced to partially shut down operations while Hyundai Motor Company had to suspend operations at some of its production lines after unionized truckers refused to transport parts.
Source: KBS World Radio