Ulsan Buses to Strike from First Bus Tomorrow... Union Says "Ordinary Wage Reform Shifts Responsibility"

Ulsan City Prepares Emergency Transportation Measures
Including Expanded Taxi Operations Amid City Bus Strike

The Ulsan city bus union will launch a full-scale strike starting from the first bus on June 7, following the final breakdown of this year's wage and collective bargaining agreement negotiations. This marks the first Ulsan city bus strike in six years since May 2019.

On June 6, the Ulsan Bus Union of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions held a meeting with the branch heads of its seven affiliated companies and made the final decision to go on strike. As a result, bus services on the affected routes will be suspended from the first bus at 4 a.m. on Saturday, June 7.

Since March, the union has held six rounds of negotiations and twelve mediation meetings with the Ulsan City Bus Transportation Association, which represents the employers, but ultimately failed to reach an agreement. The key issue is the "restructuring of the wage system."

Ulsan City Bus. Photo by Yonhap News

In December last year, the Supreme Court en banc ruled that various allowances must be calculated based on the ordinary wage, which includes bonuses. Accordingly, the city bus industry is also required to recalculate allowances using the ordinary wage as the basis. The main point of contention was restructuring the wage system to prevent the financial burden on the management from becoming excessively large.

The union demanded a shift to a wage system centered on base salary, along with a total wage increase of 10.47%, which matches the level agreed upon by labor and management for Busan city buses. The management countered by insisting on maintaining the existing system, citing financial burdens.

The union believes that discussions held after the ordinary wage ruling have been conducted in a way that shifts all losses onto the workers. The union states that this strike is an unavoidable decision to highlight the differences with management and to draw attention to the core issue.

In Ulsan, city buses are virtually the only means of public transportation. If the strike materializes, 105 routes (702 buses) out of the total 187 routes, which are operated by unionized workers, will be suspended. Ulsan City announced that in the event of a strike, it will immediately send emergency disaster alerts and implement measures such as expanding taxi operations and emergency transportation plans.