[Anchor]
The labor and management of Seoul's city buses, who have been at odds over the calculation standards for ordinary wages, are currently holding final negotiations. The labor union has stated that if negotiations break down, it will go on strike starting from the first buses tomorrow morning. We are connecting to the scene.
Reporter Yun Nara, the negotiations have been going on for quite a long time. What is the atmosphere like?
[Reporter]
Yes, the negotiations between Seoul city bus labor and management, which began at 2:00 PM today (September 15), have been ongoing for nearly eight hours.
The core issue is the standard hours used to calculate ordinary wages, which determines how much the monthly ordinary wages are worth per hour.
The union has demanded 176 hours per month, while management has proposed 209 hours per month, as a lower calculation standard is more advantageous to workers.
The union maintains that 176 hours per month should be applied in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling on Dong-A Transportation's ordinary wages in April. However, management and the Seoul Metropolitan Government counter that a remand trial is underway for the ruling and nothing has been finalized.
With a wide gap in positions between the two sides, reaching an agreement is proving difficult. The union plans to launch a full-scale strike starting from the first buses tomorrow morning if no agreement is reached.
[Anchor]
If negotiations break down and a strike actually takes place, it will cause immediate problems for tomorrow morning's commute. Are contingency plans in place?
[Reporter]
Yes, given that daily users of Seoul city buses reach 3.8 million, chaos would be inevitable if the buses stop running.
Significant confusion occurred during a two-day bus strike in January as well.
Earlier, the Seoul Metropolitan Government held an emergency meeting in the morning to inspect emergency transportation measures.
[Oh Se-hoon / Mayor of Seoul: The Seoul Metropolitan Government will prepare thoroughly by mobilizing all available means to ensure there are no gaps in citizens' commutes tomorrow morning, preparing for all possibilities.]
The Seoul Metropolitan Government decided to operate around 1,500 shuttle buses and increase subway operations by more than 200 runs compared to usual.
It has also decided to deploy village buses to city bus routes and requested schools and public institutions to delay school arrival and work start times by one hour.
While the plan aims to minimize confusion centered around the commute hours, public inconvenience is expected to grow if the strike is prolonged.
(Video by Lee Sang-hak, Kim Han-gyeol | Video Editing by Park Ji-in)
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