Seoul: The union representing Seoul city bus workers announced on Tuesday that they will initiate a general strike starting with the first buses on Wednesday morning after wage negotiations with management concluded without reaching an agreement.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the labor and management teams conducted their second round of mediation talks at the regional labor relations commission. However, after eight hours of discussion, the talks failed to yield a resolution. As a result, the union is set to commence the strike at 4 a.m. Wednesday, affecting approximately 7,000 city buses operated by 64 companies on roughly 390 routes across Seoul.
In response to the impending strike, the Seoul city government has outlined emergency transportation measures. These include the deployment of up to 1,500 free shuttle buses to and from subway stations and an increase in subway services during peak hours to mitigate the impact of the strike on commuters.
The core of the dispute between the unionized city bus workers and the bus companies revolves around the calculation methodology for the hourly wage rate, particularly in how regular bonuses are included in ordinary wages. The union is advocating for the calculation of ordinary wages based on 176 monthly work hours and a 7.85 percent wage increase. Conversely, the bus companies and the Seoul city government have opposed this proposal, arguing that it effectively translates to a wage increase of around 16 percent.
Yoo Jae-ho, deputy secretary-general of the Seoul Bus Workers' Union, stated during a press briefing that the union is open to negotiation and is not strictly demanding a 7.85 percent wage increase, provided that the standard of 176 monthly work hours is acknowledged. Yoo highlighted that wage increases of over 5 percent have been adopted in other regions, suggesting that this could serve as a benchmark for narrowing the gap between the union and management positions. He refuted claims by management that meeting the union's demands would elevate bus drivers' annual salaries to 85 million won (approximately US$62,500), clarifying that the average salary is projected to be around 59 million won this year.
Seoul's city buses, along with those in other major cities nationwide, operate under a semi-public management system. In this arrangement, bus companies handle operations while municipal governments subsidize their losses. The Seoul city government estimates that a 1 percent wage increase would incur an additional 14 billion won in annual costs, and that fully meeting the union's demands could potentially double the annual deficit of the city bus system to about 1 trillion won.