Workers who had been on strike at 14 airports nationwide, excluding Incheon, will return to the job conditionally. It has been three days since they launched a general strike on the 1st. In contrast, the Incheon Airport Branch of the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers' Union, which includes workers at Incheon International Airport, will continue a full strike during this holiday period.
The National Airport Workers' Solidarity said in a news release on the 4th, "The National Airport Union will return to the job from today (4th) until the 14th, when the presidential office is scheduled to meet with the Korea Airports Corporation," adding, "If there is no responsible response from the government and related agencies after the meeting, we will launch another general strike on the 15th."
The National Airport Union is made up of workers at 14 airports under the Korea Airports Corporation, excluding Incheon Airport. Instead of striking, they plan to stage a work-to-rule campaign. Centered on off-duty workers, they will hold pickets aimed at airport visitors to explain the purpose of the strike.
The solidarity is an organization of 15,000 subsidiary workers belonging to the National Airport Union and the Incheon Airport Branch of the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers' Union, among others, who handle terminal maintenance, firefighting, facility management, and cleaning at 15 airports nationwide. They have demanded switching from a three-team, two-shift system to a four-team, two-shift system and improving disadvantages faced by subsidiary employees. They also called for measures to address the rise in industrial accidents during heat waves and cold snaps.
Earlier, airport corporations said they had deployed replacement personnel to fill gaps caused by the general strike and that there have been no disruptions to flight operations during the holiday period.