South Korea Strike Action Escalates
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean strike action escalated Thursday as thousands more workers joined nationwide stoppages, while the militant labor umbrella group was to respond later in the day to a government offer for direct talks.
Korea's labor ministry said 3,145 metal worker unionists downed tools at companies including Korea Heavy Industries and Construction and Anam Semiconductor.
Unionists at the Korea Cancer Center Hospital continued to strikes from Wednesday, the ministry said.
Workers at Seoul National University hospital began strikes Thursday but negotiations with the management were going on, a hospital labor union official said.
Unionized workers at five companies, including Hyundai Precision & Industry and Ssangyong Motor, were expected to begin strikes from the afternoon, the ministry said.
From the office and banking unions, 300 workers at unlisted Josun and Doowon life insurance companies began strikes. Three hundred unionists at Handuk were expected to walk out later in the day, the ministry said.
Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the nation's militant labor union group, said in a statement it would hold a news conference at 1.00 p.m. (0400 GMT) to announce its stance on the government's offer for direct talks.
The KCTU, which is leading a campaign of strikes and rallies to slow corporate restructuring it fears will cause mass layoffs, threatened to expand nationwide strikes Wednesday. But it said it could change strike plans if the government allowed opened direct dialogue, which the labor group has demanded for months.
The government Wednesday reversed its earlier position and said it was ready for direct talks with the labor activists on the condition that they drop strike plans.
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