Print
    20 June 2012| last updated at 12:34PM

    200,000 S. Korea cabbies stage rare strike



    0 comments

    SEOUL: More than 200,000 South Korean taxi drivers staged a rare day-long strike on Wednesday for higher fares and cheaper fuel, prompting authorities to run extra bus and subway services.

    About 220,000 of the country’s 255,500 licensed cabbies joined the  stoppage, the transport ministry said, adding there would be extra buses in the  capital Seoul and the second city Busan, and more trains on the Seoul subway.

    “We don’t expect any major transportation crisis since taxis are not a  major part of people’s daily commute,” a ministry spokesman told AFP. “But we  are still keeping a close eye on the situation.”    There was no major turmoil during morning commuting hours due to the  increased bus and subway services and the absence of taxis actually eased  gridlock on the roads, Yonhap news agency reported.

    Tens of thousands of drivers will stage a huge rally in central Seoul later  in the day, the Korean Taxi Workers’ Union said.

    It wants a rise in the flagfall of 2,400 won ($2) and cuts in the price of  LPG, on which most taxis run.

    “The anger of taxi drivers that has long been bottled up is finally  exploding on June 20,” the union said in a statement.

    It said the domestic LPG price has surged 50 percent over the past four  years and accused fuel providers of “pocketing massive profits... while the  livelihood of taxi drivers couldn’t get worse”.    “This is our final ultimatum asking for our survival,” the union said.

    The transport ministry said earlier it had urged South Korean fuel  importers such as SK Gas and E1 to try to curb fuel-price rises. - AFP

    A taxi driver (bottom L) walks in the compound of a taxi company where taxis are parked, as drivers attend a nation-wide strike in Seoul June 20, 2012. Private and public taxi drivers, as well as the management of taxi companies, launched a 24-hour nation-wide strike on Wednesday to demand the government to hike taxi fares and lower the price of gas. South Korea has around 290,000 taxi drivers, with 90,000 drivers registered in the capital of Seoul, according to local media. Pix by Reuters.

    1 / 1

    Leave Your Comment


    Leave Your Comment:

    New Straits Times reserves the right not to publish offensive or abusive comments and those of hate speech, harassment, commercial promos and invasion of privacy. Your IP will be logged and may be used to prevent further submission.The views expressed here are that of the members of the public and unless specifically stated are not those of NST.