United Future Party Claims "Triggered by Changwon City's Broken Promise to Increase Bus Subsidies"

Changwon City, "United Party's Comment Nonsense... Cause of Company's Insincere Negotiation"

(Photo by Changwon City)

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Choi Hyun-joo] Conflicting claims have been confirmed between the United Future Party Gyeongnam Provincial Party and Changwon City regarding the 'Changwon City Bus Strike' that took place from the 30th of last month to the 2nd of this month.

On the 3rd, the United Future Party Gyeongnam Provincial Party released a commentary titled "Welcoming the Normalization of Changwon City Bus Operations."

Through this commentary, the provincial party expressed relief that the strike was halted following the settlement of wage negotiations between labor and management, but also claimed that the cause of the strike was triggered by Changwon City.

The Gyeongnam Provincial Party stated, "Although the city provided a budget of 65 billion won to bus companies last year, it failed to gain trust from the bus companies," and criticized, "Regarding the loss compensation proposal promised during wage negotiations, the first step should be to establish a system that allows the management side to receive reasonable support and legal protection."

In this context, the provincial party referred to a Changwon City press conference on the 30th of last month, arguing that the city's remarks expressing regret toward bus companies that, despite receiving sufficient subsidies, only demanded wage cuts and thereby induced the strike, suggest suspicion of the management's intentionality in the strike.

Additionally, the provincial party conveyed the management's opinion that "a city official approached the management suggesting they consider ways to increase subsidies and urged them to reach an agreement, but in recent years, only verbal promises have been made using the same method."

Regarding the provincial party's claims, the city firmly dismissed them as groundless, maintaining that the cause of the strike lies entirely with the management.

Initially, the union proposed a 9% wage increase and a 100,000 won accident-free allowance to the management, but the management did not participate in negotiations held from the 1st to the 8th round, and rather, during the 7th negotiation, insisted on a wage freeze and a 300% cut in bonuses, which became the starting point of the strike, the city argued.

According to the city, the standard transportation cost that the city can support per bus is determined annually through a service contract, but this is set for the following year, not the current year. Regarding wage increases, support is not provided in the current year, but once confirmed, financial support is retroactively given to the management.

A city official stated, "Even the Labor Relations Commission (Jinowi) said that they have never negotiated with 'wage cuts' during wage negotiations," adding, "The city also made several suggestions to the mediators regarding compromise proposals, but the management only insisted on wage cuts."

He continued, "Currently, the management is sticking to their decision, so we cannot accept the United Future Party's claim that Changwon City induced the strike."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.