Labor, Management of Seoul's Intracity Buses Reach Wage Deal, Strike Called Off

The Seoul city bus union announced on Wednesday that it has ended a strike and reached a wage deal with management. The union and management engaged in extensive negotiations for nearly 12 hours at the regional labor relations commission and agreed to a 3.2% wage increase for 2026. This is a 0.3 percentage point increase from the 2.9% rise in the previous year.

As a result, the union abandoned its plan to commence a general strike, set to begin at 4 a.m. on the same day. All bus routes resumed normal operations in the morning.

The primary point of contention during the negotiations was how to incorporate regular bonuses into ordinary wages. The union insisted that ordinary wages should be calculated using 176 monthly work hours, which would result in a 7.85% wage increase. However, bus companies and the Seoul city government refused this proposal, arguing that it would equate to an approximately 16% wage increase.

City buses, operated under a semi-public management system, are run by bus companies while the municipal government bears their losses.

According to the Seoul city government, a 1% wage increase would add approximately 14 billion won (US$10.3 million) in annual costs. Accepting all of the union's demands could potentially double the city's annual bus system deficit to around 1 trillion won. The issue of wage calculation will be left unresolved until after the Supreme Court delivers a ruling on a related case at the end of the year.