By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

Taxi drivers and metal workers on Wednesday went on strike to demand wage increases and better working conditions, lining up with hospital workers who continued their week-long walkout.

About 4,600 drivers of the Korean Federation of Taxi Workers’ Unions, affiliate of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), launched a strike at 4 a.m. calling for an improved working environment.

The drivers are also demanding the introduction of a minimum wage, a strengthened role for taxis as a mode of public transportation and the nullification of the plan to increase taxi fares.

A unionized cab driver set himself on fire in front of the presidential office of Chong Wa Dae Wednesday evening.

According to the police, the 36-year-old man, identified only as Lee, got out of a taxi and poured oil on his body before setting himself on fire.

Lee was immediately taken to a nearby hospital. Police said he is in a critical condition after sustaining life-threatening burns.

The Korea Metal Workers’ Federation, also an affiliate of the KCTU, walked off the jobs for four hours as a warning for a general strike due on June 29. The union said on Tuesday that around 83 percent of its members cast ``yes’’ votes in favor of the strike.

The umbrella labor union KCTU held rallies at 3 p.m. in front of the National Assembly building in Yoido, central Seoul, and several places across the nation, calling for the implementation of a five-day workweek system, the abolition of discrimination against part-time and day laborers, and a minimum wage of 766,000 won per month.

About 7,000 unionized workers from the hospital and taxi unions gathered in Yoido and marched to Uri Party headquarters in Yongdungpo, disrupting traffic. Some 1,200 cabbies parked their cars on a Yoido street in protest against management.

``Unless employers and the government suggest proper measures, all KCTU affiliates will join in strengthening the struggle. If the hostile policies are continued, it will negatively effect the mood of conversation and compromise which is being fostered through the meetings of six leaders from labor, management, and government,’’ KCTU chairman Lee Soo-ho said.

Meanwhile, hospital nurses and paramedics were still unable to narrow differences over a five-day workweek system with their employers.

The unionized workers resumed sit-in rallies in hospital lobbies from 6 p.m. Tuesday, while complaints from patients are at a high.

A 56-year-old patient at Seoul National University Hospital, identified as Kang, said, ``I can’t get enough care due to bad meals and a shortage of nurses. I also saw a 70-year-old man from Kangwon Province, whose hospitalization had already been postponed three times, return home after failing to be admitted.’’

A 54-year-old man, identified as Kim, whose wife is a patient at Ewha Womans University Medical Center, said, ``It is ridiculous for hospitals, which deal with life, to stop their services. I can no longer endure workers leaving the hospital every afternoon to stage rallies.’’

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr