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Ulsan bus drivers end 19-hour strike after reaching wage deal

Published: 08 Jun. 2025, 12:47

Citizens get on a bus at a bus top in Ulsan on Jan. 21. [YONHAP]

Unionized bus drivers in the southeastern city of Ulsan have ended their 19-hour strike after reaching an agreement with bus operators on a wage hike plan, officials said Sunday.

The bus drivers and six bus companies reached a compromise late Saturday, capping months of wage negotiations and rounds of mediation sessions that began in March.

Ulsan bus drivers to strike on Saturday over wage dispute

Under the agreement, drivers will receive a 10.18 percent increase in total wages, which includes incorporating regular bonuses into base pay and granting three days of paid summer leave, among other benefits.

All bus services had resumed by early Sunday. Ulsan does not have a subway system, and buses are the city's only form of mass public transit.

The bus drivers walked off the job early Saturday as the wage talks had failed to reach a breakthrough. The strike, the first such collective action since May 2019, suspended 80 percent of the city bus services, causing major inconvenience to commuters in the industrial city.

Yonhap