Mokpo Mayor Park Hong-ryul Rejects Financial Support Demand Without Improvement in City Bus Company Management

Support for unpaid wages with financial aid upon strike end... Refusal to pay outstanding natural gas fees requested

[Mokpo=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Jeong Hyeong-seok] On the 3rd, Mokpo Mayor Park Hong-ryul announced that he rejected the demands of Taewon Passenger and Yujin Transport to support unpaid natural gas fees, as they did not fulfill their management responsibilities such as presenting drastic business improvement plans regarding the city bus strike.

On the 2nd, the 16th day of the Taewon Passenger and Yujin Transport union strike, Mayor Park explained the process and stance for the normal operation of city buses and announced additional measures to alleviate citizen inconvenience.

Mayor Park said, “To ensure the normal operation of city buses through collecting opinions from various sectors, we formed and activated a joint council for city bus normalization and held a meeting on October 27.” He added, “Following the council’s proposal that representatives should seek solutions through dialogue, on October 31, we held a representatives’ meeting with Moon Cha-bok, Chair of the City Council, Han In-kwon, Head of the Mokpo branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, Lee Han-cheol, CEO of Taewon Passenger and Yujin Transport, and Park Chun-yong, Chairman of the Automobile Union in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions.”

Regarding the companies’ demand at the representatives’ meeting to support not only the 2.4 billion KRW in unpaid wages but also the 2.1 billion KRW in unpaid natural gas fees, Mayor Park clearly stated, “According to the labor-management agreement, financial support will be provided only for unpaid wages related to workers’ livelihood once the strike ends. We cannot use citizens’ taxes to fully support unpaid natural gas fees when management responsibilities, such as presenting drastic business improvement plans, are not fulfilled.”

He continued, “I deeply regret the prolonged strike and strongly urge both the management and the union to promptly end the current situation, which only looks to the city’s financial support and disregards citizens’ inconvenience, and to normalize operations.”

Mayor Park also proposed additional emergency transport vehicles and a 1,000 KRW taxi service as measures to alleviate inconvenience.

Mayor Park said, “We have made every effort to secure additional emergency transport vehicles and leased eight charter buses. As a result, the operation has expanded from 20 buses on two routes (No. 1 and No. 9) to 28 buses on four routes, including No. 13 and No. 1A.” He added, “Starting November 7, new services on routes No. 13 and No. 1A will begin to reduce transportation inconvenience in areas such as Bukhang-dong apartment complexes, Sinheung-dong and Mokwon-dong areas, and near Daeyang-dong Jungang High School.”

He also said, “As a drastic transport measure, 150 ‘1,000 KRW charter taxis,’ where passengers pay only 1,000 KRW, will be deployed starting November 9 on weekdays, focusing on eight major trunk bus stops. These will operate intensively during school commute and rush hours (7?9 a.m. and 4:30?7:30 p.m.).”

Finally, Mayor Park emphasized, “With a firm stance on the efficient and democratic execution of Mokpo city finances formed by the taxes of the people and citizens, we will firmly respond to excessive demands and do our best to ensure the normal operation of city buses.”

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