Striking cargo truckers vote to decide whether to end weekslong walkout

▲ Members of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity Union cast votes at a parking lot in the southern city of Gwangju on Dec. 9, 2022. (Yonhap)

trucker strike-vote

Striking cargo truckers vote to decide whether to end weekslong walkout

SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Yonhap) -- Striking cargo truckers voted Friday to decide whether to end their weekslong walkout following the government's two rounds of back-to-work orders.

The plenary vote began at 9 a.m., a day after the executive committee of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity Union held an emergency meeting to decide whether to continue the strike, but failed reach an agreement.

The results of the vote were expected to come around noon.

Since Nov. 24, thousands of cargo truck drivers have staged the strike to demand the extension of the Safe Trucking Freight Rates System guaranteeing minimum wages.

The government and the ruling People Power Party announced last month they will extend the system for another three years beyond its scheduled expiration at the end of the year.

But truck drivers demanded the government make the system permanent and expand it to cover not only truckers delivering cargo and cement but also drivers in other sectors.

The strike has wrought massive supply disruptions across industries, with damage in steel firms and the petrochemical sector reaching 1.3 trillion won (US$987.7 million), respectively.

The government on Thursday issued an order for striking truckers serving in the petrochemical and steel industries to return to work, the second such order following the first issued on the cement industry last week.

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