Air Busan Union to Launch Work-to-Rule from 13th... "Close the Wage Gap"

First Industrial Action Approved Since Company’s Founding... 91.5% of Pilots Vote in Favor

The Air Busan labor union announced on the 11th that, in protest against management’s refusal to address wage disparities, it will launch an industrial action in the form of strict compliance with all laws and operating manuals starting on the 13th.

Air Busan A321neoLR aircraft. Air Busan

In a strike ballot held from the 6th to the 9th by the Air Busan pilots’ and cabin crew unions, 205 out of 233 pilot union members (91.5%) and 78 out of 110 cabin crew members (70.9%) voted in favor, thereby approving the industrial action. The pilots’ union also immediately secured the legal right to strike after failing to reach an agreement in the second mediation session at the Busan Regional Labor Relations Commission the previous day.

Because airlines are designated as essential public-interest businesses and strikes are therefore restricted, the union chose a work-to-rule campaign. This means it will completely stop cooperating with excessive work practices and unreasonable duty scheduling that have continued as a matter of custom under the pretext of safety and maintaining operations. The union plans to continue its industrial action by using all available means, including picketing and putting up banners.

The backdrop to the union’s hard-line stance is the wage gap with Jin Air, which is slated for integration. According to the union, Air Busan’s wage level is on average 82% of Jin Air’s. It explained that captains earn about 91%, while first officers remain at around 87-88% depending on their years of service.

The union pointed out that, although management had promised to gradually narrow the wage gap, it only proposed a 4% increase. The union maintains that a 7% raise is necessary to restore at least a minimum level of fairness on the premise of integration.

A union representative said, “Korean Air has stated that it will narrow wage disparities before full integration, but the Air Busan management is ignoring this and demanding sacrifices only from workers,” adding, “If complying with laws and regulations leads to inconvenience for passengers, the responsibility lies with the management that has kept working conditions at a bare minimum level.”