A damaging general strike must be stopped

Dark clouds are gathering fast after the combative Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has entered a two-week general strike until July 15 under the banner of ousting the Yoon Suk Yeol administration. According to the umbrella union, starting with a strike by delivery vehicle drivers and electronic product repairmen, the Korean Metalworkers’ Union and the Korean Health and Medical Workers’ Union all under the KCTU will follow. The union of Hyundai Motor also joins the general strike by the metalworkers’ union in five years followed by an unlimited strike by the medical workers’ union. The KCTU says that more than 400,000 out of its 1.2 million members will participate in the general strike.

That will certainly make ordinary citizens’ life even tougher, as they are struggling to pass through a long tunnel of recession. The Korean economy has just ended a 16-month long deficit streak after recording $1.13 billion in trade surplus last month. But that owed more to less import than more export.

The semiconductor category does not show any sign of recovery. Last month, exports decreased 28 percent compared to the same period of last year. Despite expectations for a rebound thanks to the simultaneous increase in industrial production, consumption and investment, global economic conditions are not promising. The Federal Reserve’s planned hike in the benchmark rate makes it harder to predict a recovery of the global economy.

Moreover, low-income people suffer from their debts. According to the Bank of Korea, 3 million people had to spend nearly all their income, except for their minimum cost of living, to pay back their debt at the end of the first quarter. Among them, 1.75 million are in de facto bankruptcy. From January to May, 17,000 people filed for personal bankruptcy. A general strike by KCTU under such dire circumstances is completely detached from their desperation.

The demands from the KCTU — such as the ousting of the government or opposition to the scheduled discharge of contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant — are totally irrelevant to the protection of workers’ rights. That proves the political character of the general strike. Their catchphrases such as “Popularize a struggle to oust the Yoon administration!” only reminds us of the anti-government slogans during the democratization movement decades ago.

To ride even the slightest signs of economic rebound, cooperation between management and labor are critical. The KCTU must stop the general strike immediately. The government and companies must sternly deal with their illegitimate strikes before it is too late.