Seoul City Buses Threaten Full Strike on Sept. 16 If Mediation Fails

Seoul city bus labor unions have warned that they will go on a full-scale strike on the 16th if ongoing dispute mediation over wage increases breaks down.

The Seoul City Bus Labor Union announced today (the 3rd) that "we have applied for dispute mediation with the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission, and if a settlement is not reached, we declare that we will enter a full-scale strike starting from the first buses on the 16th."

The union explained the background, stating, "At the beginning of the year, we ended our strike, trusting the promise made by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and employers to 'settle unpaid wages in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling on Dong-Ah Transport.' However, even after that Supreme Court ruling, management went back on its word and claimed it would follow the standards of Supreme Court rulings on new lawsuits from other companies."

Previously, the union declared the breakdown of collective bargaining on the 31st of last month and applied for labor dispute mediation.

If mediation fails to yield an agreement within 15 days, the union will meet the requirements to engage in dispute actions, including a strike.

Labor and management in Seoul's city bus sector have been in conflict since a 2024 full bench ruling by the Supreme Court ordered that regular bonuses paid without "fixedness" must also be recognized as ordinary wages.

The Association of Seoul City Bus Transport Businesses, the employer group, proposed reflecting regular bonuses into annual salaries in accordance with the new precedent.

In this scenario, regular bonuses would be eliminated and annual salaries would rise by about 10.3 percent.

On the other hand, the union defines this proposal by management as a "wage freeze."

They are demanding additional wage increases alongside the payment of allowances under the new precedent.

Both sides have also failed to narrow their differences regarding the "standard hours" used to calculate how much monthly ordinary wages should be valued per hour.

The smaller the standard hours are viewed, the greater the wages to be paid.

In an appeal for a lawsuit filed against management by the union of Dong-Ah Transport, a Seoul city bus company, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court's decision recognizing 176 hours per month while remanding other parts of the case back to the Seoul High Court.

Consequently, the union argues that the standard hours have been finalized at 176 hours.

Meanwhile, management believes there is room for the court's judgment to change to 209 or 230 hours.

Lawsuits of the same nature filed by unions at companies other than Dong-Ah Transport are still undergoing first-instance trials.

Seoul city buses had not gone on strike for 12 years following 2012.

However, after 12 years, in March 2024, they staged a strike lasting about 11 hours after failing to narrow differences between labor and management over wage increases and other issues.

Labor and management also engaged in a tug-of-war from January 13 to 14 of this year over wage restructuring plans stemming from the ordinary wage ruling.

In the end, they went on strike for two days, the longest in history.

An official from the Association of Seoul City Bus Transport Businesses said, "It is a serious problem that the union has resolved to stage consecutive strikes."

The official added, "Since the 16th is right before the Chuseok holiday, we are concerned about major inconveniences for citizens. We cannot understand how they expect to handle the public's criticism directed at the industry."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.