Seoul Metro union to join protests Wednesday, general strike planned for Dec. 6

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Seoul Metro union to join protests Wednesday, general strike planned for Dec. 6

Published: 19 Nov. 2024, 13:03 Updated: 19 Nov. 2024, 15:06

LEE SOO-JUNG
[email protected]

Passengers on subway platform of City Hall Station in central Seoul on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

Seoul Metro’s largest labor union said Tuesday that it will stage a work-to-rule protest or labor slowdown starting Wednesday.

Seoul Metro operates the city’s subway lines No.1 through 8 and has three labor unions. Around 60 percent of Seoul Metro’s employees belong to the labor union, which declared the protest on Tuesday.

Starting Wednesday, the labor union will not attend occupational assignments not prescribed by the law. The unionized workers will work based on a two-person team and conduct inspections as mandated by their corporate regulations. It also ensured safe operations, adding that they will abide by essential safety regulations.

The union also said it will launch a general strike starting Dec. 6 if their employer and the Seoul Metropolitan Government reject negotiation with them. Seoul Metro is likely to see its general strike happening for three consecutive years if the general strike happens this year.

The union demanded that the company cancel a restructuring plan, prepare measures to prevent industrial accidents and hike its employees' wages by more than 2.5 percent, as Seoul Metro suggested.

While Seoul Metro workers are about to stage a collective labor action, some subways traveling within the greater Seoul area have experienced delays due to another work-to-rule protest by workers from the Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail), which began Monday.

Korail operates the Suinbandang Line, Gyeongui Jungang Line and Seohae Line and co-operates Seoul's Line No. 1,3 and 4 with Seoul Metro.

Of the 653 subway trains in the metropolitan area, 150 or some 23 percent experienced delays of longer than 20 minutes as of 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Korail said. The state railway corporation said high-speed trains such as KTX are operating on time.

Update, Nov. 19: Added service delays caused by Korail workers' protest.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]