HiteJinro headquarters occupied by unionized cargo truckers

Unionized cargo truck drivers hung banners from the rooftop of HiteJinro's headquarters building in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

By Park Jae-hyuk

Unionized cargo truck drivers raided HiteJinro's headquarters building in Seoul, Tuesday, occupying the ground floor and hanging banners from the rooftop in protest against the liquor maker's refusal to raise delivery fees.

According to the police, some 70 members of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity entered the building abruptly at 6 a.m., briefly hindering HiteJinro employees from entering the workplace.

Although the employees managed to enter the building at around 9 a.m., some of the truckers threatened to set fire to the rooftop, if the police tried to quell their protest. In response, firefighters put in place safety air cushions in front of the building.

A HiteJinro spokesman said discussions are underway on how to solve the problem while ruling out the possibility of supply shortages of soju and beer.

"We have normalized the delivery of our products, as most truckers came to our company's headquarters building from our factories, where they had been blocking the entrances," he said.

However, there are still concerns that the intensifying dispute may damage the company. HiteJinro claimed it has already suffered over 10 billion won ($7.6 million) in losses, due to additional costs for deliveries and setbacks in production.

"Because of the lingering protest of cargo truck drivers, there exists the possibility that HiteJinro may face increasing costs during the second half of this year," eBest Investment & Securities analyst Oh Ji-woo said in a report.

Unionized cargo truck drivers hold a rally in front of HiteJinro headquarters in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

The truckers began their protest in March, claiming that their delivery fees have been virtually frozen over the past 15 years. After blocking the entrances to HiteJinro's soju factories in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, and Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, that month, they started a sit-in protest at Hongcheon brewery in Gangwon Province earlier this month.

The liquor maker has emphasized that the truckers should talk with Suyang Logistics, HiteJinro's wholly-owned subsidiary, which contracted the drivers.

In order to prevent a setback in the supply of beer during the peak summer season, the company also sent 250 office workers last Monday to the Hongcheon brewery to deliver 120,000 cases of Terra, Hite, Max and FiLite.

In addition, it has refused to accept the union's request to retract the 2.7 billion won damages claim against 11 truckers, who disrupted the operations of the Cheongju and Icheon factories.

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