Subway Workers Join in Massive S. Korea Strike

Subway workers in the capital joined hundreds of thousands of strikers today in South Korea’s largest walkout ever, called to protest a new law that cuts organized labor’s power.

Prosecutors vowed to arrest union leaders and send riot police to break up illegal street demonstrations, while the government said it would prevent the strike from further damaging South Korea’s already ailing economy.

As the spreading protest entered its third day, South Korea’s shipbuilding and auto-making industries--pillars of its export-driven economy--remained idle.

“Fight the evil law!” several hundred Seoul subway workers shouted at a dawn rally after walking off their jobs.

Seoul City Hall said it will keep the trains running with nonunion workers. But if the strike were to drag on into next week, service would be dramatically cut.

More than 370,000 strikers are demanding that the government retract a labor bill that the ruling party slipped through parliament in a predawn session Thursday with no opposition members present. The bill makes it easier for businesses to lay off workers, and strikers fear that businesses will do just that.

The ruling party tried to appease the workers by saying that, in the long run, the new law would be better for all parties.

“The controversy is uncalled-for. The law benefits the economy, the workers and the businesses,” said Lee Hong Koo of the New Korea Party.

The government said that it would not allow the massive protests to further drag down the economy, which is facing a record $20-billion trade deficit this year.