SEOUL, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- South Korea's unionized civil servants ended their outlawed three-day strike Wednesday after the government took steps to punish them.
Members of the Korean Government Employees' Union, however, said they would walk off their jobs again next Friday if the government refused to come to the negotiating table.
"We will return to work on Thursday morning, ending a three-day strike," Kim Young-gil, head of the union, said in a statement.
"We have staged struggles in spite of the government's cruel crackdown. We are confident that we will win a final victory," he said. "We will continue our struggle for full labor rights," Kim said.
The union's decision came after the government began to take steps to punish union leaders and other members who joined the strike.
"Regardless of their decision to stop the strike, the government will punish every worker who joined the illegal walkout," Labor Minister Kim Dae-hwan said.
The unprecedented strike by civil servants also failed to win public support. The strikers had demanded that the government withdraw a bill that would restrict their right to collective action.
