Seoul Subway Strike, Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Union Abstains... Korean Confederation of Trade Unions to Strike on 9-10

Integrated Union Members "Normal Operations" Notice

The Seoul Metro Integrated Union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) has declared that it will not participate in the warning strike of the Seoul subway starting on the 9th. However, the Seoul Metro Union under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) plans to continue the strike.

Representatives of the two major labor unions of Seoul Metro held a press conference on the 18th at Seoul Plaza in front of Seoul City Hall, announcing that they will go on a general strike to prevent workforce reduction. Photo by Heo Younghan younghan@

On the 9th, the Integrated Union conveyed the 'Emergency Dispute Countermeasure Committee Resolution' to its members, stating, "As a result of the Emergency Dispute Countermeasure Committee meeting, the Integrated Labor Union will not join the warning strike," and urged "all members to do their best in normal duties." Accordingly, the Integrated Union's general strike send-off ceremony scheduled for that day was also canceled.

Earlier, the joint bargaining team composed of the Metro Union and the Integrated Union entered final negotiations with management on the 8th but failed to find common ground and declared the talks broken down around 9:13 p.m. that day.

On the same day at 3 p.m., labor and management resumed wage and collective agreement (wage and collective agreement) negotiations at the Seoul Metro headquarters in Seongdong-gu, Seoul. However, after a two-minute recess, the joint bargaining team entered discussions to create a final agreement but failed to reach a consensus. Subsequently, the joint bargaining team decided to respect each union's decision through a final meeting.

The Integrated Union stated, "We respect the Metro Union's warning strike," but added, "We will actively participate in future labor-management consultations to derive the best possible agreement."

Meanwhile, the Metro Union's warning strike is scheduled to take place from 9 a.m. on the 9th until 6 p.m. on the 10th.