Citizens are boarding a bus at the Uncheon Reservoir boarding station in Seo-gu, Gwangju. /Courtesy of News1

The Gwangju city bus union and management reached an agreement on wages and a collective bargaining agreement on the 20th. As a result, Gwangju city buses will resume normal operations starting on the 21st, 13 days after the strike that began on the 9th.

On that day, the Gwangju city bus union announced that it had reached an agreement on this year's negotiation and signed the agreement at the Gwangju City Hall.

The union and management agreed to a 3% wage increase and to extend the existing retirement age from 61 to 62 years.

With the agreement reached on this day, the strike that had continued for 13 days will also come to an end. The city bus union decided to operate normally from the first bus on the 21st.

Previously, the Gwangju city bus union demanded an 8.2% increase in wages and an extension of the retirement age in this year's negotiations. On the other hand, the management argued for a wage freeze, unable to narrow their differences.

As a result, the union began the strike on the 5th after negotiations with management broke down. The union paused the strike for three days during the Memorial Day holiday, then resumed it on the 9th when weekdays started.

In addition, the Gwangju city bus union and management agreed to participate in a public transportation innovation meeting (tentatively named) organized by the city of Gwangju to discuss improvements in worker wages and treatment, the realization of public transportation fares, and the restructuring of the quasi-public operation system.