Demanding An Increase In Salaries And Additional Staff, Seoul Subway Workers Hold Protests Starting Today

Illustration of Seoul Metro. (Wikimedia Commons/Marc Smith)

JAKARTA - The passengers of the subway service in Seoul and its surrounding areas will face delays, as the Seoul Metro union, the subway operator 1 to 8, plans to hold work protests according to rules on Wednesday, demanding higher wages and additional recruitment.

Concerns about the massive rail service disruption are increasing as the KORAIL unions are also starting to slow down subway operations Tuesday, on the Suinbunggang Line, which connects Seoul and Incheon, and other routes connecting the capital and surrounding cities.

The group also threatened to strike indefinitely in early December if their demands were not met.

The Seoul Metro union, which represents 60 percent of the workforce, held a press conference in front of Seoul City Hall and announced a strike schedule and demands on Tuesday.

"Locations of subway workers have experienced constant anxiety and fear due to a series of serious industrial accidents and blood cancer outbreaks among employees revealed late this year," the group said.

"Recently, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has imposed restructuring and halting new recruits, leading to serious job gaps and personnel shortages," the group continued.

Furthermore, the group urged the withdrawal of restructuring, normalization of personnel operations, suspension of one-person crew systems, prevention of industrial accidents, and an unfair completion of wage cuts.

Workers who are members of the union will carry out work operations according to regulations starting Wednesday.

Unlike conventional Timely Operations, work operations according to rules comply with stopping times (deliberately running slower than usual), which can cause some delays.

The underground and trade union operators are divided into a large wage increase. The company insists on increasing wages by 2.5 percent next year in accordance with government guidelines. Meanwhile, trade unions demand a bigger increase.

The company also plans to reduce the number of employees by 2,200 by 2026. Meanwhile, unions oppose excessive personnel reductions and demand additional staff, saying the reduction could directly lead to public safety concerns.

"We urge the Seoul Metropolitan Government and companies to open the negotiating table for 15 days. If they refuse to negotiate, we will carry out a massive strike," the union said.

It is known that KORAIL and Seoul Metro jointly operate metropolitan subway lines 1, 3, and 4. The 2 and 5 to 8 lines are operated by Seoul Metro, while KORAIL operates the Suinbunggang Line, Gyeongui-Jungang Line, Gyeongchun Line, Gyeonggang Line, and Seohae Line.