Will the Seoul City Bus Strike End? Labor and Management to Resume Talks Tomorrow

After failing to narrow their differences over wage increases and ultimately launching a strike, labor and management of Seoul city buses will resume negotiations on January 14.

Yonhap News Agency

According to the bus industry on January 13, the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission will hold a post-mediation meeting at 3 p.m. on January 14, attended by representatives from the Seoul City Bus Labor Union of the Korea Automobile & Transport Workers’ Federation (bus union) and the Seoul Bus Transportation Business Association (Seoul Bus Association), which represents management.

A post-mediation meeting is convened by the labor commission to mediate disputes when labor and management fail to reach an agreement even after the official labor dispute mediation process. Labor and management held a post-mediation meeting once on January 12, but failed to reach a compromise and subsequently began a strike.

This post-mediation meeting is being held at the request of the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission.

The two sides remain at odds over the interpretation and application of the Supreme Court ruling in December 2024, which expanded the scope of bonuses recognized as ordinary wages, and the appellate court ruling in the Dong-A Transportation lawsuit, which was the first to apply this precedent to city bus companies.

Management proposed to restructure the wage system in line with the intent of the ordinary wage ruling and suggested a total wage increase of 10.3%. However, the union rejected the wage system restructuring and demanded a separate wage increase of more than 3%.

If labor and management reach an agreement at this post-mediation meeting before midnight on January 14, Seoul city buses will resume normal operations from the first bus on January 15.