The Seoul city bus union decided to continue its strike on the 14th. After final talks on wages and a collective agreement with management collapsed, the union began a strike with the first buses on the 13th and has warned of a second straight day of walkouts. With no clear schedule for additional negotiations between the city bus labor and management, there are concerns the strike could drag on.
A Seoul city bus union official said, "We plan to continue the strike tomorrow morning," and noted, "There is no set bargaining schedule with management right now." The city bus union's strike is known to be extended on a day-by-day basis. As a result, even if labor and management reach a deal on the morning of the 14th, bus service is likely to resume on the 15th, a day later.
The union launched an indefinite, all-out strike starting with the first buses at 4 a.m. that day. Management, the bus association, and the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission held follow-up mediation meetings of the special mediation committee on the wage and collective agreement, but failed to reach an agreement.
The sticking point between Seoul city bus labor and management is "ordinary wages." They failed to find common ground amid differences over whether bonuses are included in ordinary wages and over the rate of increase in base pay. The union demanded wage hikes based on a Supreme Court ruling in Dec. 2024 that conditional regular bonuses also qualify as ordinary wages, while management has argued for introducing a new wage system.
In response, management said it proposed a 10.3% wage increase to the union. It said it applied a high rate in light of rulings on ordinary wages related to city bus workers. In an appellate ruling last October on ordinary wages in a case filed by the Donga Transportation union, the court recognized only 45% of the union's claim. In line with the precedent's intent, the appropriate wage increase rate is around 7–8%.
The union, however, said, "We have never once made ordinary wages a subject of collective bargaining." It said the ordinary wage issue can be resolved under standards established by the Supreme Court's judgment.
The union also argued, "The Seoul Metropolitan Government and management are saying they will pay only part of the back wages they are responsible for, while distorting the situation to make it seem as if the union is demanding excessive wage hikes and branding the union as a group making unreasonable wage claims."
Accordingly, the union said it plans to file lawsuits after Feb. 10 seeking payment of unpaid wages for 2025, including principal back wages and 20% annual delay interest, as well as damages amounting to three times the principal back wages, against management and others.