Seoul Subway Labor and Management Hold Main Negotiation on the 2nd... Positions Still 'Tense'

Dialogue Two Months After the 3rd Main Negotiation
Union Raises the Level of Struggle Including Publicity Campaigns

With the total strike of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway labor union scheduled for the 9th of next month, the Seoul Transportation Corporation management and labor union will enter the 4th round of main negotiations on the 2nd of next month. This marks the resumption of dialogue between labor and management two months after the breakdown of the 3rd main negotiation on the 6th of last month. However, since the core issue is the workforce reduction plan that neither side is willing to compromise on, it is expected that reaching a compromise will not be easy. In addition, the union plans to continue escalating the intensity of their struggle until the total strike next month.

Representatives of the two major labor unions of Seoul Metro held a press conference on the 18th at Seoul Plaza in front of Seoul City Hall, announcing that they will go on a general strike to prevent workforce reduction. Photo by Heo Younghan younghan@

Although the negotiations are resuming with difficulty, the positions of both sides remain firm. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's stance is also resolute. When asked about the union strike at the National Assembly Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee's audit the day before, Mayor Oh said, "There are parts of the union's demands that do not seem reasonable from the citizens' perspective," and added, "The management rationalization plan to reduce 2,212 personnel by 2026 will be implemented without fail." This effectively rejects the union's demand to withdraw the workforce reduction plan.

The union is opposing Mayor Oh's remarks. A representative of the corporation's union stated, "The Seoul city's workforce reduction and restructuring plan threatens the safety of citizens and workers and will degrade the quality of public services," adding, "We have been consistently requesting meetings with Mayor Oh, but they have not materialized."

Labor and management have been at an impasse over the workforce reduction issue. Since the first main negotiation on July 11, the corporation and the union's joint negotiation team have held ten negotiation sessions (3 main negotiations and 7 working-level negotiations), all of which ended in failure. The corporation's position is that workforce reduction is inevitable for management normalization, considering the large-scale deficit. As of last year, the corporation's accumulated deficit had ballooned to 17.608 trillion won. Accordingly, they proposed a plan to reduce 2,212 personnel by 2026, which corresponds to about 13.5% of the corporation's total staff. Last year, labor and management were also at an impasse over a plan to reduce 1,500 personnel by 2026, which led to a strike.

The union plans to continue escalating the intensity of their struggle until the total strike. The Seoul Transportation Corporation Union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions will start a public awareness campaign with picketing by union members during commuting hours at about 100 subway stations across Seoul on the 27th. Meanwhile, the Seoul Transportation Corporation Integrated Union under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions will hold an executive resolution rally on the 26th and begin a campaign to place stickers on trains starting the same day.

Labor and management are expected to continue negotiations until just before the strike begins. If negotiations ultimately fail and the total strike materializes, it will be the second consecutive year of strikes. The corporation's union went on strike on November 30 last year, marking the first strike in six years since 2016. On the first night of that strike, negotiations were concluded late, and the strike was suspended after just one day. The union also declared strikes in 2019 and 2021 but reached agreements just before the scheduled dates, so the strikes did not take place. A corporation official said, "Neither labor nor management wants to cause inconvenience to citizens due to a strike," and added, "The workforce reduction plan is a matter that neither side can easily concede on, but we will do our best to engage in discussions."

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