On the 29th, the Seoul city proposed to the city bus union to resolve the ordinary wage issue by referring to the cases of Busan and Daejeon, which restructured their wage systems to include bonuses in the base salary.
Ye Jang-kwon, Seoul's Transportation Deputy Minister, held a brief briefing at Seoul City Hall on the afternoon of the same day, noting that "we are doing our utmost to secure a breakthrough in city bus wage negotiations by referring to the case of Daejeon, which restructured the wage system to include bonuses in the base salary."
According to the Seoul city, the city bus labor-management in Daejeon decided in 2012 to eliminate bonuses and other allowances and restructure the wage system by increasing the base salary. This led to an aggregate wage increase of approximately 7.6%. This was due to the agreement to eliminate bonuses, vacation pay, and driver insurance premiums and convert those expenses into the base salary, resulting in a separate increase of 3.75% in the base salary alongside a 3.2% rise.
The Seoul city stated, "This restructuring of the wage system is essentially the same method proposed by the bus management to the union this year."
The Seoul city also presented the case on the 28th where the Busan city bus labor-management completely eliminated performance bonuses and summer vacation pay while increasing the base salary. The Busan city bus labor-management changed the wage system by eliminating bonuses and reflecting them entirely in the base salary. As a result, the monthly wage aggregates increased by 10.48%.
Deputy Minister Ye stated, "Engaging in a wasteful debate between labor and management has a very high social expense," and added, "The city's position is that it is appropriate to resolve the ordinary wage issue this time."
The union reacted negatively to the Seoul city's position. A union official stated, "The Seoul city and management want to first eliminate bonuses, fix the total salary so it does not change, and discuss the increases," and added, "Busan added bonuses and summer vacation pay to the base salary, and therefore recalculating various allowances with the increased hourly wage keeps the existing wage system intact."