Union workers at two top South Korean carmakers walked out Tuesday, on the second day of an outlawed and unprecedented strike by railway and power unions over long working hours and privatization.
The four-hour stoppage at all plants of Hyundai Motor Co and affiliate Kia Motors extended to the private sector an indefinite strike by thousands of public sector workers, who are forbidden to strike under Korean law.
The government has threatened stern measures to end the rail and power strikes, which come at a critical time for the South Korean economy, one of the few bright spots in Asia.
Memories of how strikes at Hyundai Motor in December took a bite out of output and exports have added to concerns in a presidential election year -- and a year when eyes will be on the country as it co-hosts the soccer World Cup with Japan in June.
President Kim Dae-jung cannot seek re-election when his term ends a year from now. But his party, which draws support from labor, is trailing in polls behind the pro-business main opposition party, which has been critical of his reforms.
"Kim should focus on curbing labor strife, which will likely flare up with regional and presidential elections lined up this year," said Huh Chan-kook, an economist at the Korea Economic Research Institute.
So far, there has been none of the violence associated with South Korean labor disputes of the late 1980s, when the country experienced up to 3,000 often bloody strikes each year. There were 235 strikes last year, up from 129 in 1998 and 85 in 1996.
The government says the rail and power strike violates laws banning walkouts at public utilities. Officials said it was the first such action in South Korea's turbulent labor history.
The strike was virtually ignored by financial markets. Investors shook off the strike at Korea Electric Power Corp and railways, while airlines advanced as fewer trains held promise of busier air routes.
The unions want a halt to privatizing state utilities and shorter working hours. They fear mass layoffs under government plans to restructure debt-ridden state firms.
The private sector manufacturing unions at Hyundai and Kia want shorter hours and more flexible shifts -- the core demand of the militant Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), the second largest union grouping with 500,000 members.
"All Hyundai Motor plants halted production at 1 p.m. (0400 GMT) for four hours in line with the KCTU strike," Cho Byoung-hee, a Hyundai union spokesman, told Reuters.
A Kia union spokesman said union workers had also walked out at all its plants.
had said 100,000 workers would walk out Tuesday unless labor laws are revised to ensure a five-day work week.
Hyundai Motor was hit by three weeks of intermittent strikes in December, delaying the output of some 59,000 cars. Hyundai has about 50,000 workers, of whom 38,000 are union members.
Many people work six days a week in South Korea, where laws mandating a 44-hour work week are often ignored. Last year, the average worker put in 20.4 hours overtime a week, officials say.
The government and state-run firms took emergency steps to avoid interruption to gas and power supplies.
But the rail stoppage disrupted transport, delaying delivery of export cargoes to ports and prompting two-hour delays and crowded trains in Seoul in what local media dubbed a "commuter war."
South Korea's economy grew three percent in 2001 and it projects growth of as much as four percent this year. But experts say the vital export sector can ill afford more shocks after recent global weakness.
"Export industries still remain weak and it looks too early to expect a fully fledged recovery in months to come," Huh said.
The country's largest union, the 13-million-member Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) restarted negotiations Tuesday with state rail authorities but reached no agreement.