Major Union to Hold Labor Day Rally After Cargo Worker Killed During Protest

SEOUL, April 27 (Yonhap) -- A major umbrella union will hold a large-scale rally on Labor Day to demand responsibility over the death of a cargo worker hit by a truck during a recent demonstration, officials said Monday. Last Monday, a 2.5-ton truck struck participants of a cargo worker rally near a CU convenience store logistics center in Jinju, about 290 kilometers southeast of Seoul, killing a union member in his 50s and injuring two others. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions plans to hold its rally near the headquarters of BGF Retail, the operator of CU, in southern Seoul on Friday to call for a resolution to the underlying dispute between labor and management. Subcontractor workers of BGF had staged last week's rally to demand direct negotiations with BGF management following the recent enforcement of a new law holding prime contractors more accountable for subcontracted employees. The collision is suspected to have happened as rallygoers tried to block the truck, operated by a non-union worker, from leaving the site and continuing to work for the company despite the ongoing rally by unionized cargo truck drivers. The union has accused police of recklessly allowing trucks to leave the area at the time. "Not only the head of the Gyeongnam Provincial Police, but the National Police Agency chief and the interior minister should be held responsible, and the president should also apologize," Eom Gil-yong, head of the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers' Union, said in a press conference. A National Police Agency official told reporters that police officers will be mobilized on Labor Day for the rally, vowing to "sternly" respond to serious illegal activities. Last Thursday, a district court issued an arrest warrant for the truck driver, identified as a man in his 40s.