South Korea intervenes to end pilot strike
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-12 08:54

South Korea's government on Sunday ordered striking pilots at the country's largest airline back to work, showing again that it refuses to tolerate unrest threatening the national economy.

Labor Minister Kim Dae-hwan announced the emergency step on the fourth day of the walkout at Korean Air Co., which began early Thursday when unionized pilots left their cockpits seeking higher pay.

The intervention marked the fourth time since 1969 — and the second this year — that the government has utilized its right to bust strikes in crucial industries.

Korean Air, the nation's largest passenger carrier and world's biggest cargo airline, was forced to cancel hundreds of flights, including domestic and international passenger service as well as cargo routes.

The airline flies over much of the world, with an extensive passenger network.

Unionised pilots of Korean Air shout slogans at a rally after the government's emergency mediation to end their strike in Inchon, west of Seoul December 11, 2005. [Reuters]

More importantly from the government's perspective, it also transports products produced by Samsung Electronics Co. and other industrial behemoths that have helped make South Korea the world's 11th-largest economy, and a top exporter.

The government signaled its intentions early on, indicating it wouldn't wait the 25 days it took before ending a walkout by pilots at Asiana Airlines Inc., the second-largest carrier, in July and August.

"The repeated strikes by airlines are hurting the competitive power of the national economy as well as its credibility," Kim told a nationally televised news conference, saying it was "very regrettable" that the government was forced to act.

"The losses incurred by the strike at Korean Air are five to six times that of Asiana," Kim said, citing in particular harm to exporters of high-technology goods.

South Korea is home to major exporters such as Samsung, which makes flat-screen televisions, personal computers and digital music players as well as components like memory chips and semiconductors.

The government also invoked its authority to stop labor unrest in 1993 at Hyundai Motor Co. and in 1969 at Korea Shipbuilding Corp.

The government's powers allow the ministry to order strikers back to work and make the two sides negotiate further. If they fail to reach an agreement, the government can force one through a special arbitration body.

Korean Air union spokesman Park Byung-ryul, who said pilots voted by an overwhelming 80 percent to adhere to the order, criticized the move.

"It's unfair," he said, adding that government intervention means management never had to change its negotiating position.

Park, who flies long-haul Boeing 747-400 jets for the airline, also called the action "harmful to future relations" between the company and the labor union.

The union made several compromises after the strike began. Korean Air made none, sticking with its offer of a 2.5 percent increase in basic pay, which pilots had criticized as insufficient.

In 2004, captains at Korean Air earned an average of 120 million won ($116,000) in total compensation including basic pay, flight pay and bonuses, according to the airline. First officers earned an average of 88 million won ($85,000).

Korean Air plans to resume full cargo service and operate half of its domestic flights on Monday and offer complete international service on Tuesday, said airline spokesman Song Hun-seok.

The government estimates that a total of 723 flights out of 1,174 scheduled were suspended during the strike, with about 98,000 passengers and 7,130 tons of cargo affected.