About 3,500 workers in South Korea's five major power generation companies went on strike on Monday for better working conditions and reinstatement of fired colleagues.

"As of 1:30 a.m., we launched the strike since the management has shown no desire to negotiate and only resorted to government intervention," said a spokesman of the Korean Power Plant Industry Union.

The strike was launched after the National Labor Relations Commission decided on Sunday to ask for the government arbitration over the labor dispute, which is expected to require the unionized workers to suspend their walkout.

South Korean government and the five power companies said most of the key demands by power workers were not up for negotiations. The power companies warned to conduct administrative actions against the workers refusing to return to their posts.

"The government will deal strictly with those that take part in any illegal strike," said Vice Energy Minister Lee Won-geol on Monday when meeting striking workers at the state-owned Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO) headquarters in Seoul. He said every effort will be made to end the strike as soon as possible and to make certain that electricity supply will not be disrupted.

It is the second time for the power workers to launch such strikes. In 2002, power workers conduced a 32-day strike.

Source: Xinhua