"Seoul Subway Union to Start Legal Strike from 16th in Protest of Workforce Reduction... Total Strike Scheduled for 30th"

Major Labor Unions "Ignoring Special Labor-Management Agreement"
"Manpower Reinforcement Needed to Prevent Safety Accidents"
Starting from the 16th, Two-Person Team Regulation Inspection Strike Begins
If 'Progressive' Manpower Plans Are Inadequate
General Strike Scheduled for the 30th

On the 7th, in opposition to Seoul Metro's large-scale restructuring plan, the two major labor unions (the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions) announced a general strike scheduled for the 30th of this month. Prior to that, they declared that starting from the 16th, they will engage in a compliance protest by inspecting regulations in pairs.

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] The two major labor unions (the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions) have announced a general strike in opposition to Seoul Metro's large-scale restructuring plan.

The Seoul Metro Union Joint Negotiation Team, composed of the two major labor unions, stated on the 7th at 10 a.m. in front of Seoul City Hall, "Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon negotiated with Seoul Metro's labor and management in May to resume late-night operations and agreed to increase manpower, but less than half a year later, this agreement is becoming 'a scrap of paper' by the Seoul city government, which is a party to the agreement."

They claimed that the management violated last year's special labor-management agreement. Heo Kwon, the standing vice chairman of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, said, "In September last year and May this year, Seoul City and Mayor Oh Se-hoon promised to increase manpower to strengthen public service, but this promise was thoroughly broken in the face of the Ministry of Strategy and Finance's core guidelines for public enterprises."

He added that despite the 'Sindang Station incident' and the death of a worker in the Obong Station accident on the 5th, Seoul City and Seoul Metro have not presented proper safety measures. Hyun Jeong-hee, chairperson of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Public Transport Union, said, "Whenever incidents and accidents occur, the president and prime minister step forward to analyze causes and set measures, but they pass the responsibility to each other, and as time passes, everything is swept under the rug," adding, "The two major unions will launch a general strike to prevent such accidents."

Finally, they emphasized the need to increase manpower for safety. Ryu Gi-seop, chairperson of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions Public Federation, stated, "It is a natural step to increase safety personnel and inspection staff," and argued, "If Seoul Metro cancels even the agreement to increase manpower due to deficits, safety will be neglected, inevitably leading to another disaster."

They announced that starting from the 16th, union members within Seoul Metro will begin a compliance struggle by inspecting regulations. Although workers are supposed to work in pairs for safety inspections, this has not been observed, and they intend to enforce this rule. If Seoul City and the government do not present restructuring and safety measures, they plan to initiate a general strike from the 30th of this month.

The Seoul Metro Union affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions and the Seoul Metro Integrated Union affiliated with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions have formed a joint team to negotiate next year's wage collective bargaining with management. Seoul Metro proposed a plan to reduce 1,539 personnel on the 4th of last month, leading to a breakdown in negotiations two days later on the 6th. Subsequently, they entered dispute procedures, including applying for mediation at the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission.

However, no consensus was reached at the commission, and mediation ended on the same day. The joint team conducted a strike vote from the 1st to the 4th of this month, which passed with a 79.7% approval rate out of total voters. Of the 13,831 total union members, 12,292 voted, with 9,793 in favor.

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