Railway Union Postpones General Strike Today... All Trains Operating Normally (Comprehensive)

On the 11th, passengers are boarding the Mugunghwa train at Daejeon Station. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The Korean Railway Workers’ Union has decided to postpone the strike it had previously announced and will instead wait to see the government’s proposal. As a result, all trains are operating as normal, and the feared commuter traffic chaos has been averted.

KORAIL stated at 12:20 a.m. on the 23rd that “the railway union has postponed the strike that was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. today,” and added, “All trains are operating as usual.”

The government has reportedly informed the union that it will submit a phased normalization plan to the Public Institution Management Committee (PIMC), under which the performance-based bonus standard-one of the key issues in the negotiations-will be set at 90% of base salary next year and 100% starting in 2027.

The union has been demanding that the standard for the management evaluation performance bonus be raised from the current 80% to 100%, in line with other public institutions. The union plans to decide on its next steps after observing the PIMC’s decision at 2 p.m. today.

Meanwhile, KORAIL’s management issued an appeal the previous day, stating, “Because the performance-based bonus standard was revised one year later than the 2010 government budget guidelines, our employees have faced ongoing real wage declines and lifetime income disadvantages due to this discrimination. Normalizing the performance-based bonus is urgently needed.”

In 2009, the Lee Myung-bak administration pursued public sector reforms such as reducing starting salaries for university graduates. In response, KORAIL’s management and union strongly opposed these measures, resulting in severe conflict and a wage agreement that was reached one year later than other public enterprises. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance then set KORAIL’s performance-based bonus standard at 80% of monthly salary, rather than 100% like other companies. This 80% standard remained throughout the 2010s. Although it was temporarily raised to 100% between 2018 and 2021 through labor-management agreements, it reverted to 80% following recommendations from the Board of Audit and Inspection and a decision by the PIMC.