Bus Designated as 'Essential Public Service'... "Concerns Over Restriction of Right to Strike"

On the 28th of last month during the Seoul city bus strike
Operation rate at 4.4%... City "Citizen damage occurred"
Experts "Concerns over restriction of bargaining rights and unconstitutionality"

The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Metropolitan Council are pushing to designate city buses as an essential public service that must operate at a 'minimum operation rate' even during strikes. Some concerns have been raised that this could potentially restrict the right to strike.

On the 12th, the city announced that, considering the inconvenience caused to citizens during last month's bus strike, it will propose an amendment to the Labor Union Act to the National Assembly as soon as the 22nd National Assembly convenes to designate city buses as an essential public service. In addition, 25 members of the Seoul Metropolitan Council from the People Power Party, including Councilor Kim Jong-gil, submitted a resolution on the 3rd urging the amendment of the Labor Union Act to designate city buses as an essential public service. This is because city buses are operated under a semi-public system in eight metropolitan cities and provinces, making public accountability essential, and because strikes can cause harm to citizens.

On the 28th of last month, when the Seoul city bus union went on a general strike for the first time in 12 years, buses were parked at a bus depot in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul (left), and commuters were waiting for buses that did not arrive. Photo by Jo Yongjun jun21@

The background for this initiative is the city bus strike on the 28th of last month, when buses stopped operating from the first run until 3 p.m. On the day of the strike, the operation rate of city buses was about 4.4%. The city stated, "There were cases where some union members blocked buses operated by union members who did not participate in the strike, obstructing normal operations." According to the Labor Union Act, unlike railroads and urban railways, city buses are not designated as an essential public service, so unions are not obligated to maintain a minimum operation rate during strikes.

An essential public service under the Labor Union Act refers to "a business whose suspension or cessation would significantly endanger the daily lives of the public or seriously harm the national economy, and for which work substitution is not easy." If designated as an essential public service, a minimum level of essential maintenance work must be maintained even during strikes. Currently, aviation, railroads, electricity, water supply, banking, and blood supply fall under this category. In the past, buses were included as an essential public service, but intercity buses were deregulated in 1997 and city buses in 2001.

However, there are opinions that a cautious approach is necessary because the designation as an essential public service itself could partially restrict the union's right to strike. Professor Park Ji-soon of Korea University Law School said, "Since we have ratified the ILO (International Labour Organization) conventions, there could be constitutional controversies because designation as an essential public service involves restrictions on the right to strike and limitations on labor-management autonomy." The ILO conventions include those on freedom of association and protection of the right to organize, as well as the application of principles on the right to organize and collective bargaining.

Professor Park explained that the nature of transportation modes currently designated as essential public services, such as aviation, passenger transport, and city buses, differs in terms of "substitutability." He said, "In terms of substitutability, ships and airplanes have no substitutes, but buses have alternatives such as subways and taxis," adding, "There may be room for limited discussion only in areas where subways do not reach."

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