"파업하면 남편 월급 줄고 이웃 눈총 하소연 하는 노조원 부인들 많아"

Nearly one out of every five state-run companies in Korea reported losses in 2006, budget ministry data showed yesterday.
Five out of the 26 state companies, Korea Railroad, Korea Container Terminal Authority, Korea Industrial Complex Corp., Workers Accident Medical Corp. and Busan Port Authority, reported 1 trillion won ($1.1 billion) in combined losses in 2006, according to preliminary data by the Ministry of Planning and Budget.
Since 2002, the bottom lines of state-run companies have worsened due to oil prices and currency fluctuations, as well as inefficient business management and weak competitiveness, experts said.
In 2006, Korea Railroad’s losses snowballed to 935.9 billion won from 606.9 billion won in 2005, while Korea Container’s losses more than doubled to 49.6 billion. Korea Industrial Complex Corp. and Workers Accident Medical Corp. posted losses of 6 billion won and 6.6 billion won each, respectively. Busan Port Authority’s losses amounted to 15.7 billion won.
In total, the 26 state-run companies reported a combined 3.2 trillion won worth of net profit in 2006, down 26.7 percent from 4.4 trillion won a year earlier.
Earnings by Korea Electric Power Corp. fell 20 percent to 1.9 trillion won, while that of Korea Gas Corp. plunged 41.1 percent to 145.2 billion won. Korea National Oil Corp.’s net income declined 50.9 percent to 137.2 billion won. Only three state firms, Korea Highway Corp., Korea Land Corp. and the Incheon Port Authority, reported increases in their net profits in 2006 from a year earlier, the data showed.