A ready-mix concrete transport labor union has warned of a full shutdown while demanding negotiations on transport rates in the Seoul metropolitan area. Ready-mix manufacturers are refusing collective bargaining, saying mixer truck drivers are individual transport operators, not workers under the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act. With the gap between the two sides unchanged, if the union's shutdown materializes on the 8th, construction delays are feared at major sites in the metro area, including the Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek campus and the SK hynix Yongin semiconductor cluster.
According to the ready-mix industry on the 2nd, the National Ready-Mix Transport Labor Union (Jeonunryeon) is demanding that ready-mix manufacturers engage in collective (unified) bargaining to set transport rates for ready-mix concrete in the Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon metropolitan area. Jeonunryeon said, "The manufacturers' association is refusing talks by insisting on individual negotiations by manufacturer instead of unified bargaining," adding, "If individual negotiations take place, regions with weaker bargaining power will inevitably be disadvantaged." It added, "If there is no substantive progress in collective bargaining, we have no choice but to launch a full shutdown struggle across the metro area starting June 8."
The negotiating table has not yet opened, so the specific size of the requested increase has not been disclosed. However, ready-mix manufacturers see a strong possibility that the transport rate increase will exceed 5%. Since the ready-mix transport rate in the Daejeon area rose 5.9% from a year earlier this year, a similar level of increase could be requested in the metro area.
Although the union has played a hard card by declaring a full shutdown of metro-area mixer trucks, some say the chances of reaching collective bargaining before the shutdown are slim. That is because manufacturers worry that agreeing to collective bargaining could lead to recognizing transport operators as workers under the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act. In that case, manufacturers say their bargaining power in future transport rate talks could drop significantly.
A ready-mix manufacturer official said, "If the union status of transport operators is recognized, they are highly likely to demand direct rate negotiations with the prime contractors, the construction firms, beyond the ready-mix manufacturers," adding, "If that happens, ready-mix manufacturers will be excluded from the negotiating process and will have no choice but to contract with sites based on transport fees unilaterally notified to us."
If Jeonunryeon proceeds with a full shutdown of metro-area mixer trucks on the 8th as announced, major construction sites in the metro area are expected to be unavoidably affected. Large sites such as the Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek campus and the SK hynix Yongin semiconductor cluster are particularly sensitive to disruptions in ready-mix supply. A Jeonunryeon official said, "Samsung Electronics sites have weekday and weekend work, and SK hynix sites have the particularity of a lot of night work, so rates have been reflected through negotiations with the sites," adding, "If we go on strike, work at Samsung Electronics and SK hynix sites will also have to stop."
Some sites are already said to have entered direct negotiations on transport expense with ready-mix transport operators. At the Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek campus construction site, Samsung C&T reportedly considered installing an on-site batching plant (BP, equipment that produces large volumes of concrete) to shorten the schedule, but scrapped the plan due to opposition from transport operators and then moved to negotiate transport expense.
The construction industry is also closely watching the possibility of a full shutdown. A construction industry official said, "Strikes by ready-mix transport operators often occur in June, which is typically considered an off-season for sites, but if it drags on, we are looking at the impact on sites." Another industry official said, "Once a strike begins, we respond by taking volumes from nonunion transport operators or by proceeding with other processes first," adding, "However, even if we hold out with such measures, sites will inevitably be affected directly or indirectly."
Some point to the construction machinery supply-control system as the backdrop to the expense conflict between ready-mix manufacturers and transport operators. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has restricted increases in the number of ready-mix mixer trucks for 18 years since introducing the construction machinery supply-control system in 2009. As a result, they say structural repetition of conflicts over transport fees between ready-mix manufacturers and transport operators is unavoidable.
An industry official said, "With the total number of mixer trucks capped, commercial license plates trade for 40 million to 45 million won in building booms and 15 million to 20 million won even in slumps," adding, "Because supply is limited, strikes become more effective, and in the process, conflicts over transport fees keep recurring."