Seoul city bus labor-management agreement reached... Strike withdrawn and normal operation

Negotiations on wage and collective agreement (collective wage agreement) between Seoul city bus labor and management were concluded in the early morning of the 16th.

As the labor-management agreement was reached, the bus union decided to withdraw the strike that had been announced from the first train at 4 a.m. on this day and resume normal operation on all routes.

The Seoul Bus Workers' Union and the management, the Seoul Bus Transport Business Association, reached a final agreement on the wage agreement adjustment plan at the second mediation meeting related to the labor dispute held at the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission at 1:50 a.m. on this day.

Labor and management participated in the second mediation meeting related to collective wage agreement at the Seoul Labor Relations Commission from 2 p.m. the previous day and reached an agreement after marathon negotiations for nearly 12 hours.

Labor and management accepted the Ginowi's adjustment plan and agreed to increase wages by 3.2% in 2026.

This is 0.3 percentage points higher than last year’s wage increase rate of 2.9%.

The standard time for calculating normal wages, which was a point of sharp conflict between labor and management, was excluded from this agreement.

The labor and management decided to set the calculation standard according to the Supreme Court's ruling on the standard for calculating normal wages for transportation companies, which is scheduled for the end of the year.

Previously, the union did not bend its position that 176 hours per month should be applied as the standard time for calculating normal wages in accordance with the purpose of the second trial of the Dong-A Transportation ordinary wage lawsuit last year and the Supreme Court ruling in April this year. Additionally, an hourly wage increase of 7.85% was requested.

On the other hand, the management and Seoul City argued that 230 hours should be applied, taking into account the working hours agreed upon between labor and management.

However, the company referred to the cases of other local governments and proposed the application of 209 hours as an alternative in accordance with the purpose of the court ruling on ordinary wages. Accordingly, the wage increase rate was considered to be 6-7%, and an additional increase was added to propose an increase of 10.32%.

Labor and management decided only on the wage increase rate and concluded the consultation, leaving the issue of calculating normal wages as a subject for future negotiations.

The city of Seoul announced that it had lifted emergency transportation measures prepared in preparation for the strike and that public transportation would operate as usual.