South Korean Railroad Strike of 2006

The South Korean railroad strike of 2006 was a four-day walkout by members of the Korea Railway Workers' Union employed by the Korean National Railroad. It lasted from March 1 to March 4, when most of the workers voluntarily returned to work. During the strike, Korail's passenger service was decreased by 60%, on both national and Seoul Subway lines. Freight service was also greatly reduced.

The principal issue, which was not resolved during the strike, was Korail's replacement of regular long-term positions with short-term contract positions. The strike was declared illegal by the government after emergency arbitration was imposed, and at least 411 strikers were imprisoned.

The female KTX attendants' union, whose members are not employed by Korail but by a subcontractor, continued their walkout.

Famous quotes containing the words south, railroad and/or strike:

    I need not tell you of the inadequacy of the American shipping marine on the Pacific Coast.... For this reason it seems to me that there is no subject to which Congress can better devote its attention in the coming session than the passage of a bill which shall encourage our merchant marine in such a way as to establish American lines directly between New York and the eastern ports and South American ports, and both our Pacific Coast ports and the Orient and the Philippines.
    William Howard Taft (1857–1930)

    ... no other railroad station in the world manages so mysteriously to cloak with compassion the anguish of departure and the dubious ecstasies of return and arrival. Any waiting room in the world is filled with all this, and I have sat in many of them and accepted it, and I know from deliberate acquaintance that the whole human experience is more bearable at the Gare de Lyon in Paris than anywhere else.
    M.F.K. Fisher (1908–1992)

    We are the men of intrinsic value, who can strike our fortunes out of ourselves, whose worth is independent of accidents in life, or revolutions in government: we have heads to get money, and hearts to spend it.
    George Farquhar (1678–1707)