South Korean truckers strike disrupts fuel supply

SEOUL: A nationwide strike by South Korean truckers has led nearly 100 petrol stations in the country to run dry, government data show, and a national trade union said it would launch a general strike on Tuesday December 6 in support of drivers.

There has been no breakthrough since the truckers' strike over a minimum pay programme, which began on November 24, and has seen two negotiation sessions between the union and the government.

The South Korean government has increased pressure to end the strike because of the low supply of fuel and construction materials.

The preparations to issue a return-to-work order for drivers in sectors such as oil refining and steelmaking will be ordered by President Yoon Suk-yeol, where additional economic damage is expected to be done. Yoon invoked an order last week for 2,500 truckers in the cement industry, the first in the country's history.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions KCTU, an umbrella union that falls in the truckers' union, has called the President's start work order the equivalent of martial law and says the government should negotiate.

The KCTU planned a walkout on Tuesday to support the truckers' protests.