Rail unionists set to call off strike: officials

SEOUL, Dec. 3 (Yonhap) -- Unionized workers of Korea Railroad (KORAIL) have
decided to conditionally call off their week-long strike, company officials said
Thursday.;

KORAIL's union was to declare its decision to end the walkout during a news
conference at the head office of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, a
militant labor umbrella group, in Seoul later Thursday, said the officials.
"The rail union must have surrendered," said an official.
About 16,000 unionized workers of KORAIL went on strike Nov. 26 due to a dispute
with management over company-wide restructuring measures centered on wage and
staff cuts.
As the prolonged strike has taken a heavy toll on the nation's passenger and
cargo transportations, President Lee Myung-bak and Cabinet ministers have issued
a series of warnings asking the striking rail workers to return to work as soon
as possible.
South Korea's big business organizations also released a joint statement to call
for the railway workers to end their ongoing nationwide strike, warning that the
dispute could derail the nation's economic recovery.
Earlier Thursday, Seoul Station received a series of bomb threats, as citizens
and freight owners became increasingly annoyed by disrupted services caused by
the protracted strike.
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