By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter
Labor Minister Lee Sang-soo said on Wednesday that the government will use force if the labor-management negotiations at the nation's major retailer E-land Group fails to reach a settlement.
``If the problem does not get solved through the labor-management negotiation, we will solve it through the use of appropriate methods, including force,'' Lee said.
He said that the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Labor will discuss the use of force in the case of a prolonged protest.
Unionized workers at the E-land Group continued their sit-in protest Wednesday _ for the 19th day in the Homever outlet in Sangam-dong and the 12th day in the New Core outlet in Gangnam _ against the massive dismissal of non-regular workers.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of unionized metal workers launched a partial strike Wednesday, claiming that they be given the right for collective bargaining.
They started with a six-hour long work stoppage from 10 a.m. and will go continue with two- to six-hour-long strikes for the next three days, according to the Korean Metal Workers' Union (KMWU), to which the nation's major automobile and metal unions belong.
The union also threatened a full-scale indefinite walkout if they see no progress in negotiations with management by Friday.
However, unionists at two major automobile producers Hyundai Motor and Ssangyong Motor did not participate in the strike, saying that they have already been recognized as a collective bargaining body. The total number of unionists at the two major unions is about 50,000.
Unionists from five South Korean automakers _ Hyundai Motor, its affiliate Kia Motors, GM Daewoo, Ssangyong and Renault Samsung Motors _ account for about 60 percent of KMWU members, which has a total of about 143,000 members.
Kia, GM Daewoo and Renault Samsung have rejected KMWU's request, saying that they cannot permit double bargaining bodies.
``If they reject our requests, we will continue to strike in August. There is a possibility that unionists at Hyundai Motor will join the strike unless there is progress with management,'' said an official at KMWU.
The Ministry of Labor estimated that around 39,000 unionists participated in the strike at 44 industrial sites.
``We will strictly deal with the striking workers as their action has little to do with improving labor rights,'' said a Labor Ministry official.