Subway union plans 3-day strike this week

Seoul Metro union members announce their strike plan during a press conference in front of the Government Complex Seoul, Monday, calling for abolishment of the salary peak system and the recruitment of more workers for safer operation of subways. / Yonhap

By Kim Jae-heun

The Seoul subway workers' union plans to go on strike from Wednesday to Friday if its demands for a wage increase and shift system changes are not met by Tuesday.

The walkout is feared to cause traffic mayhem, as train operations are expected to fall to about 60 to 70 percent of the ordinary rate.

Union workers of Seoul Metro, the city government-run operator of subway lines 1 to 8, reaffirmed their strike plan, Monday, after failing to reach an agreement over the issues with management.

They demand the company abolish its salary peak system, under which the salaries for older workers in their second-to-last and last years before retirement are cut by 10 percent and 20 percent, respectively. The system was adopted in 2016 to create more jobs for young employees by saving on salaries to be paid to the older workers. But the union claims the system is not properly working as the savings are smaller than what has to be paid to the young workers.

While the organization is planning to adopt a new shift system, the union also claims it will require more workers but the company is refusing to hire more employees. It said they are already short of workers, as there are nearly 100 stations where only two employees work and sometimes one person takes charge of maintenance at 20 stations.

“We are currently short of workers and crew members are coming out to work on their days off,” a union official said during a press conference in front of the Seoul Government Complex, Monday. “But the city government and the company say there will be no recruitment due to cost rises. It is shocking that they are trying to maintain safety not by hiring more workers but exploiting existing workers.”

Seoul Metro and its union will try to reach an agreement during negotiations scheduled today. However, an agreement is unlikely, as Seoul Metro says the Ministry of the Interior and Safety has the authority to decide on the salary peak system at the public company and the city government has the power to determine recruitment.

The union has already been staging a five-day work-to-rule protest since last Friday, which has not caused major inconvenience to citizens.

But the strike is likely to cause traffic chaos, as some 11,000 workers are union members, which account for 65 percent of all employees.

According to the union, the strike can bring down the operating rate of subway lines 1 to 4 to 65.7 percent compared to the normal weekday operations, and for subway lines 5 to 8, 78.1 percent.

Seoul Metro plans to introduce emergency measures such as dispatching substitute workers, but these may not fully make up for the vacancies left by the union members.