Around 8 a.m. on the 2nd, at the departure hall on the third floor of Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport. Three men about to check out for departure were lined up inside the restroom. Three of the eight toilet stalls were empty, but no one went in. When the reporter opened the door to an empty stall, there were dark smears on the toilet and nearby, and toilet paper was strewn across the floor. One toilet was clogged. A person surnamed A said, "There isn't much time left before takeoff, and all the restrooms are like this, so it's frustrating," adding, "Nearly half of them are unusable, so I don't understand why they aren't being cleaned."
This Chuseok holiday stretches to as long as 10 days if you take just one day off, and the number of airport users is expected to reach 5.26 million, the most ever for a holiday. Incheon Airport will handle 2.45 million, and 14 airports including Gimpo, Gimhae, and Jeju will handle 2.81 million (2.06 million on domestic routes and 750,000 on international routes).
But as the holiday approached, airport workers went on strike, creating "gaps in management" in many places. The airport deployed replacement workers, but there are concerns that passengers will not be able to avoid inconvenience.
◇ Security screening staff working at 100%… no issues with departure procedures
Earlier, the National Solidarity of Airport Workers, made up of the Incheon Airport branch of the Korean Confederation of Public Service and Transport Workers' Unions under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the National Airport Union, launched a full strike from 6 a.m. on the previous day (the 1st).
About 2,000 of the 15,000 workers at 15 airports nationwide who handle security screening, parking enforcement, traffic control, and sanitation joined the strike, including 900 at Incheon Airport alone. They are demanding ▲ a shift change from a three-team, two-shift system to a four-team, two-shift system ▲ additional staffing and shorter working hours ▲ improved treatment for employees of subsidiary companies.
That morning, Incheon International Airport was packed with travelers heading overseas for the Chuseok holiday. Lines stretched long at every check-in counter. According to Incheon International Airport Corp., between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. that day, 18,385 people used the airport, up about 10% from the same hours a day earlier.
However, there were no major issues with departure processing. Even if the union goes on strike, security screening is designated as an essential service, requiring staffing at 100%.
◇ Next to trash cans, "piles of garbage"; carts for loading suitcases left unattended
Still, passengers were experiencing inconvenience throughout the airport. At nine out of 10 trash cans near the third departure hall, two to five full bags of garbage were placed beside them. Due to a lack of personnel, the airport failed to collect them in time.
Users frowned and moved away. A person surnamed Kwon (52), who said he was leaving for a three-night, four-day trip to Japan, said, "They tied up the garbage bags, but it's unpleasant. I wish they would collect them quickly."
The situation was similar in the restrooms. Filth had splashed around some toilets, and paper towels were out at the sinks. One user, after washing hands, turned away in confusion because there was no paper to dry off. Bundles of uncollected trash were piled up near the restroom entrance as well.
Carts for carrying suitcases were left unattended throughout the arrival and departure halls. Even though it was not a storage area, dozens of carts were stacked in the middle of the departure hall. A user surnamed Lee (26) said, "Carts are placed outside designated spots, so we have to avoid them as we move."
The road in front of the airport was also congested. With parking enforcement effectively halted, vehicles lined up haphazardly. As protest vehicles from the Airport Workers' Solidarity and police buses occupied the roadside, taxis and private cars seeing off family members were all mixed together. It is an area where parking or standing for more than five minutes is prohibited, but some taxis did not leave even after dropping off passengers. A person surnamed Yoon (25), pulling a suitcase across the crosswalk, said, "The road is so messy that I feel like there could be an accident."
There are concerns that if the strike is prolonged, public inconvenience could worsen. Currently, 408 replacement workers have been deployed at Incheon International Airport, but that is less than half the number on strike.
A representative of Incheon Airport Operations Services, which handles terminal operations, traffic management, and sanitation at Incheon Airport, said, "We judged that there were no major problems during the strikes on the 19th of last month and on the 1st," adding, "This replacement staffing plan was drawn up with the Chuseok holiday situation in mind."