HiteJinro truckers occupy building, threaten to jump during latest strike

Industry

Published: 16 Aug. 2022, 18:17

HiteJinro truckers occupy building, threaten to jump during latest strike

Three truck drivers in the Cargo Truckers Solidarity sit on top of a billboard installed at HiteJinro’s headquarters in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. Around 100 unionized workers occupied the building lobby and rooftop on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Unionized HiteJinro truckers on strike occupied the company’s headquarters on Tuesday, threatening to jump off the 19-story building and blocking employees from entering.

Around 100 truck drivers under the Cargo Truckers Solidarity stormed into HiteJinro’s headquarters in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, at 6 a.m. on Tuesday. The truckers locked the doors and temporarily prohibited people from entering the building.

The drivers are contracted by Suyang Logistics to work at HiteJinro factories and have been on strike since June, demanding their freight charges increase by 30 percent. The union is part of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the more radical of the two major trade unions.

With the union prohibiting people from entering, employees working at the HiteJinro building were denied entry and had to wait outside the building in the morning. The union opened the building doors around 9:30 a.m., letting employees in.

After opening the doors, 10 union members gathered on the rooftop while others went to the lobby for a sit-in protest.

Of the 10 people on the rooftop, three sat atop the building’s billboard and threatened to jump off the building if the police tried to enter or force an end to the occupation. The union also threatened to set the building on fire if the police gets involved.

Some 300 police were dispatched to the site in the morning.

Another group of unionized workers gathered in front of the HiteJinro building in the afternoon and held a press conference, urging the company to reinstate union workers that were fired since the strike.

“A lot of us have worked hard for around 30 to 40 years for HiteJinro, but joined the union because working conditions were so difficult,” said Kim Kyung-sun, head of the Cargo Trucker Solidarity’s Daejeon office. “The company is not only neglecting us, but also cornering us in a difficult situation by oppressing us and even firing union members.”

Cargo Truckers Solidarity says that since June 24, 132 union members driving trucks for HiteJinro have been fired for participating in the strike. Regarding the claims, HiteJinro said it doesn’t directly employ the workers and thus can’t fire them.

The union also condemned HiteJinro for suing union members for damages worth 2.8 billion won ($2.1 million).

Since June, the truckers have been blocking roads in front of HiteJinro factories in Gyeonggi's Icheon and North Chungcheong's Cheongju, which led them to be sued for damages for disrupting business. The truckers earlier this month moved the strike to another HiteJinro factory in Hongcheon, Gangwon.

On top of the union’s initial request to raise freight rates, it is also requesting HiteJinro to reinstate drivers that were fired and withdraw its damage claim.

If the requests aren’t met, Lee Bong-joo, head of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity, said the union will engage in more protests and strikes.

BY LEE TAE-HEE [lee.taehee2@joongang.co.kr]