The Seoul city government announced that it will hold a joint countermeasure meeting with local governments on the 7th to discuss the impact of the Supreme Court's ruling on ordinary wages on the semi-public bus system.
This meeting was conducted based on the opinion that a joint response is necessary as the ordinary wage issue between local governments operating the semi-public bus system and unions is expected to become a key point in the wage negotiation process.
The semi-public bus system is a system in which local governments partially take on the operation of city buses. Local governments allocate routes to bus companies, and if there is a deficit, they support a portion of it. Currently, about 10 places across the country operate this system.
Cities that participated in the meeting included Incheon, Busan, Daejeon, Daegu, Gwangju, Ulsan, Gyeonggi Province, Jeju Island, and Changwon.
The participating local governments are expected to discuss the key points and issues of the Supreme Court's ruling on ordinary wages, the current status of wage negotiations by local governments, strengthening cooperation among local governments, and joint measures.
First, regarding the issues arising from the ordinary wage ruling, they plan to exchange opinions on several situations that could emerge due to increases in labor costs for city bus drivers. These include the widening wage gap with other transportation sectors, such as village buses, due to increased labor costs for city bus drivers, wage increases to prevent workforce outflow from other transportation sectors, and the deepening operating deficit.
Additionally, they will discuss ways to jointly respond to wage negotiations with city bus unions that are conducted on an individual basis among local governments. This consideration is based on the opinion that the wage negotiation results of labor-management negotiations in specific local governments are likely to serve as precedents and influence wage negotiations in other local governments.
Ye Jang-gwon, the director of Seoul's Transportation Office, said, "Through this discussion, we plan to gather public opinion from local governments nationwide and strive to provide stable transportation services to citizens in the long term."