Seoul Subway Union Announces General Strike on the 6th of Next Month: "Demanding Withdrawal of Restructuring"

Expansion of Group Actions and Full-Scale Struggle Initiation
Seoul City Plans to Implement Transportation Strategy

As the National Railway Labor Union has entered a legal strike, the Seoul Metro Labor Union, which operates Seoul Subway Lines 1 to 8, has announced a general strike scheduled for the 6th of next month. The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to implement immediate transportation measures to minimize inconvenience to citizens in the event of a strike.

On the 19th, members of the Seoul Metro Labor Union held a strike declaration press conference in front of Seoul City Hall in Jung-gu, Seoul, urging for wage increases and workforce reinforcement.

The Seoul Metro Labor Union, the company’s primary union, held a press conference in front of Seoul City Hall on the morning of the 19th, stating, "If our demands are ignored and dialogue is refused, we will launch a full strike starting December 6," and added, "Until the announcement date, we will expand collective actions and carry out an all-out struggle to urge sincere negotiations and a progressive change in attitude from both the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the company."

The union called for an immediate halt to restructuring measures carried out under the name of management innovation, such as workforce reductions and the expansion of outsourcing safety tasks, demanding ▲ withdrawal of restructuring and normalization of workforce operations ▲ implementation of newly halted recruitment ▲ suspension of the one-person operation system ▲ establishment of fundamental measures for industrial accident prevention ▲ resolution of unfair wage cuts.

The union stated, "From the series of serious industrial accident deaths this year to the belatedly revealed cluster outbreak of blood cancer, the subway labor environment remains fraught with anxiety and fear," adding, "Recently, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has forced restructuring and blocked new recruitment, causing an immediate and serious 'work gap and manpower shortage'."

The Seoul Metro Labor Union announced that the strike vote held from the 15th to the 18th was approved with about 71% in favor. Of the 9,450 union members, 7,862 (83.2%) participated in the vote. Among them, 5,547 voted in favor, resulting in a 70.55% approval rate.

Previously, the labor and management sides held four main negotiations and fifteen working-level talks by the end of last month but failed to reach an agreement. Consequently, the union applied for labor dispute mediation at the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission on the 1st. The main issues are the wage increase rate and new recruitment. The company proposed a 2.5% wage increase for next year and plans to reduce personnel as part of management innovation. However, the union insisted on expanding new recruitment along with a higher wage increase rate.

Meanwhile, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions’ National Railway Labor Union began a legal strike (work-to-rule) from the previous day. This caused some delays in train operations on Subway Line 1 and the Suin-Bundang Line, inconveniencing citizens. The railway union demands a shift to a four-shift, two-team system, reinforcement of insufficient personnel, and a 2.5% flat-rate increase in base pay. In a press release on the same day, the railway union claimed, "Despite the serious manpower shortage at Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL), the Ministry of Economy and Finance is pushing for a reduction of 1,566 positions, leading to operational gaps at KORAIL," and added, "KORAIL is choosing a dangerously risky outsourcing of tasks as a countermeasure."