South Korea's container ports blocked due to truckers 2nd strike over minimum wages

Posted on November 25, 2022   |  

• The box traffic will drop by 40% to normal levels due to the blockage of 2 of South Korea’s busiest container ports, Busan and Gwangyang.
• The container movement at major ports today totaled just 14,695 TEU, compared with the usual 36,655 TEU and in Pohang, a major industrial area, incoming and outgoing shipments were also delayed.
• The indefinite strikes began at midnight on 24 November and will see 20,000 truckers join the protest line.
• The truckers are calling on the government to extend and increase the abilities of a system known as the ‘Safe Freight Rate’ that computes minimum wage based on growing operating costs due to fuel prices soaring.
• The government will extend the scheme for 3 years but rejected other union demands as in June, an 8-day, non-violent strike of truckers cost over $1.2 billion in lost output and unmet deliveries before it ended with concessions for each side.