Seoul City Bus Labor and Management Begin Full-Scale Talks Today... Will the Conflict Be Resolved?

10th Main Negotiation Session Set for the 5th...
First Official Talks in Five Months
Stalemate Over Ordinary Wages Delays Collective Agreement
Attention on Regional Labor Office Complaints and Dong-A Transportation Appeal

The Seoul city bus labor union and management will resume official negotiations for the collective wage agreement. However, as the conflict over ordinary wages remains unresolved, there are predictions that reaching an agreement will not be easy.

The Seoul City Bus Labor Union and the Seoul City Bus Transport Business Association will hold the 10th main session of the Central Labor-Management Negotiation Committee at the Jamsil Transportation Hall at 4 p.m. on the 5th. The last, 9th main session was held five months ago, on April 3. When the 9th session broke down, both sides initiated mediation procedures through the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission, but this too was halted due to ongoing disagreements. The union decided to postpone the strike and implemented a “lawful operation,” running buses in strict accordance with regulations.

On April 30, 2025, after negotiations between the Seoul city bus labor union and management broke down, the union began a work-to-rule protest. A notice regarding the protest is posted on a bus at the Seoul Station Bus Transfer Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

The prolonged negotiations are due to the dispute over ordinary wages. The key issue is the Supreme Court en banc ruling in December last year, which stated that regular bonuses must be included in ordinary wages. The business association and the Seoul Metropolitan Government argue that, as the scope of ordinary wages expands and labor costs rise sharply, the wage system should be restructured to include bonuses in the base salary. In contrast, the union claims that, according to the Supreme Court ruling, bonuses must naturally be included in ordinary wages and paid accordingly, and therefore, the issue of ordinary wages should not be subject to negotiation. The union also emphasizes that, under the current wage system, if bonuses are counted as ordinary wages, total wages will increase, but if the wage system is restructured, this increase will disappear, amounting to a “de facto reduction.”

On August 6, the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office accepted the union’s wage arrears complaint against three bus companies and issued a corrective order to “pay the difference in allowances for February and March, calculated by including regular bonuses and holiday allowances in ordinary wages.” The Goyang branch of the Central Regional Employment and Labor Office also issued a similar corrective order on September 3 regarding a complaint against another bus company. In a statement, the union said, “Despite repeated corrective orders from the Ministry of Employment and Labor, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the business association continue to ignore them and persistently demand that workers give up the wage increases resulting from the inclusion of bonuses and holiday allowances in ordinary wages. This is an unfair demand,” and demanded, “Leave the ordinary wage issue to the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s decision and approach the original collective bargaining matters in good faith.”

The business association is currently undergoing an objection process. In its objection, the association argued, “The bonuses in question are performance-based and do not qualify as ordinary wages. In addition, since the 2025 collective wage agreement has not yet been signed, there is a possibility that the bonus system could change. Therefore, it is unreasonable to conclude that this constitutes a violation of the Labor Standards Act and to initiate an investigation.”

As both sides remain at an impasse, attention is focused on whether the appellate court ruling next month on Dong-A Transportation’s ordinary wage lawsuit will become a turning point. In 2015, bus workers at Dong-A Transportation filed a lawsuit demanding that bonuses be included in ordinary wages. The court of first instance sided with management, ruling that regular bonuses did not qualify as ordinary wages. However, after this ruling, the Supreme Court recognized regular bonuses as ordinary wages, raising expectations for the outcome of the appellate court decision.

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