The Seoul city bus union held a "victory rally for the total strike struggle" in front of the Songpa-gu Transportation Center on the afternoon of the 26th. Park Jeom-gon, Chairperson of the Seoul Bus Union, said in the rally speech that "from the first bus on the 28th, please participate in the strike struggle without any delay," and noted that "as essential workers who move 10 million citizens, if we stop, Seoul stops."
The Seoul city bus union plans to strike from the first bus on the 28th if negotiations with the management do not take place by the 27th. In this regard, the Seoul bus union delivered a formal document to the management stating, "Let's have collective negotiations at 1 p.m. on the 27th."
However, the management, represented by the Seoul City Bus Transportation Association, stated that it is difficult to accept. A representative of the bus association said, "The negotiation schedule proposed by the union is unilateral content that has never been discussed at the level of practical responsible persons."
The Seoul bus union and the Seoul City Bus Transportation Association have not found common ground on wage increase rates, regular wages, and the wage system in this year’s collective bargaining negotiations.
Given this situation, there is a significant possibility that the Seoul city bus union's strike will proceed starting on the 28th. The Seoul city also prepares transportation measures to cope with a bus strike expected to last at least three days starting on the 28th.
The Seoul bus strike may spread to other regions. A representative of the Seoul city bus union said, "The bus unions in Busan, Ulsan, and Changwon in Gyeongnam also stated they would join the strike from the first bus on the 28th," and noted that "Gwangju in Jeonnam will also join on the 29th."
Currently, each of the regional unions under the Korea Automobile Workers' Union, which is the upper organization of the Seoul Bus Union, is also conducting collective bargaining negotiations with their regional associations.