Bus drivers in Goyang launch walkout
Buses are parked at the garage of Myungsung Transportation in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday, as the drivers went on strike in the morning after wage negotiations with the company failed. Some 270 buses operating on 20 routes went out of service. / Yonhap
By Kim Jae-heun
Unionized drivers working for Myungsung Transportation, a bus operator in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, went on strike Tuesday following a breakdown in negotiations with management over wages, putting more than 270 buses out of service on 20 routes.
The strike produced serious traffic chaos as neither the company nor the union, or the local government had made a public announcement about the possibility of a strike in advance.
According to the Gyeonggi Provincial Government and Goyang City, the union and the company held a last round of negotiations until 4:15 a.m. but failed to reach an agreement, which led to the walkout.
“We tried to avoid a strike until the last minute, but the company's proposal was pathetic,” the union said in a statement during a rally in front of Dong-gu Office in Goyang. “Even after the 52-hour workweek system was introduced, we still drive 15 hours a day for a lower salary.”
The union is demanding a 370,000 won increase in monthly pay, while the company is insisting on 100,000 won.
The provincial government quickly deployed 20 chartered buses and formed an emergency operations team to inform citizens of the strike so they could use the subway or buses run by other companies.
“We will cooperate with relevant agencies to take emergency measures and minimize the inconvenience for citizens,” a provincial government official said.
However, the emergency measures came too late and nearly 80,000 citizens experienced problems on their way to work, as many commute between Goyang and central Seoul. The freezing weather added extra inconvenience to their day.
“I cannot believe the company and the union started the strike in the morning and we had to wake up and hear the news only an hour before we left home for work,” said a resident of Goyang surnamed Park. “I barely made it to my office on time but this was absolutely unpleasant because I was worried about being late the whole way to work.”
Another resident surnamed Hwang said she waited nearly 30 minutes for a bus as there were few alternatives to her usual one operated by the company, and people were waiting in a long line for the small number of alternative buses.
“The way the local government handled the issue was ridiculous. They should have either helped settle the dispute or at least informed residents of the possible strike a day before so we could know what was coming. I wasn't aware of this until I found myself standing in an unusually long queue,” Hwang said.
Goyang City said it had expected the union and the company to reach an agreement, apologizing for the inconvenience.
While the drivers say they would continue the strike indefinitely unless their demands were met, a planned strike by railway workers today is feared to make the situation worse.
The rail workers said they would start the walkout at 9 a.m., as final negotiations failed Tuesday. The union workers said the state-run railway authority had failed to respond to their request for increased staffing.