With Seoul city bus labor and management failing to narrow their differences over a wage hike plan and going on strike, the two sides will return to the table on the 14th.
According to the bus industry on the 13th, the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission will hold a post-mediation meeting at 3 p.m. on the 14th, attended by the Seoul City Bus Labor Union of the Federation of Korean Automobile Workers Unions and the management-side Seoul Bus Transportation Business Association. The meeting was arranged at the request of the Seoul Regional Labor Commission.
A post-mediation meeting is where the labor commission steps in to mediate to resolve a dispute if no agreement is reached even after going through the labor dispute mediation process. The two sides also held a post-mediation meeting on the 12th, but failed to find common ground, which ultimately led to the strike.
At the core of the conflict is a difference in interpretation over the scope of ordinary wages. Labor and management remain far apart over a December 2024 Supreme Court ruling that broadened the recognition of bonuses as ordinary wages and a second-instance ruling in the Dong-a Transportation lawsuit, the first case to apply that precedent to a city bus company, sending negotiations down parallel tracks.
Management, reflecting the intent of the rulings, adjusted the wage system and proposed a total wage increase of 10.3%. The union, however, has stuck to its position that it cannot accept a revamp of the wage system itself and separately demanded a wage increase of more than 3%.
If labor and management reach an agreement by midnight on the 14th, Seoul city buses are expected to operate normally from the first run on the 15th.