Fair Trade Commission investigators wait outside the Public Transport Union office in Gangseo-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 2nd. Provided by the public transport union
The Fair Trade Commission is confronting union officials by trying to enter the office of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), which is on general strike, to investigate whether the cargo union’s headquarters have breached the Fair Trade Act.
According to the explanations of the Union of Public Transport Workers on the 2nd, FTC investigators visited the building of the Union of Public Transport Workers in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, where the Office of Solidarity Cargo is located at around 10:00 am on the same day. Investigators wait in front of the building at 11 am as union officials block the FTC from entering.
The union said, “There is no one who can answer or take responsibility for an FTC investigation or not,” and the FTC is on hand to request the contact information of the person in charge, a union official said.
Since the 29th of last month, the Fair Trade Commission has been reviewing whether the cargo union has breached the Fair Trade Act. Its purpose is to check whether the cargo union’s decision to refuse transport falls under the Fair Trade Act as ‘unfair collective action’ and ‘prohibited action by business groups’. The Fair Trade Commission set the investigation period from this day to the 6th, excluding weekends, for three days.
Regarding the FTC’s attempt to investigate, labor circles point out that the government is pushing a ‘double standard’ to the cargo union. The Fair Trade Commission’s investigation assumes the cargo union is a ‘business organisation’, but the order to start work is inconsistent which forces individual businessmen to work.
In a statement on the 29th of last month, the Cargo Solidarity said, “Even if a cargo worker is an ‘individual business operator’ rather than an ’employee’ after making a hundred concessions, the order to start work violates the freedom of choice. occupation under the Constitution.” It is absurd to say that the government will intervene and force them to do the work,” he argued.
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