Representatives of the Seoul bus drivers’ union, right, and management attend a second mediation meeting over a labor dispute at the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission in Yeongdeungpo District, western Seoul, on Sept. 15.YONHAP
Seoul's city bus drivers and operators struck a wage deal early Wednesday, calling off a strike that had been set to begin with the morning's first buses after nearly 12 hours of marathon negotiations.
In a second round of government-mediated talks at the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission, both sides accepted a proposal around 1:50 a.m. for a 3.2 percent wage increase for 2026, up 0.3 percentage points from last year's 2.9 percent increase.
Text messages from the Seoul and Gyeonggi government offices announce that all city buses are operating normally after bus drivers and operators reached a wage deal on Sept. 16.SCREEN CAPTURE
The deal, however, left out the standard for calculating drivers' hourly wage rate after including regular bonuses in ordinary wages. The two sides agreed to leave that question to the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule on a related case by year's end, on how transport companies should calculate it.
The union had insisted on calculating ordinary wages based on 176 monthly work hours and raising wages by 7.85 percent. Management and the Seoul city government rejected it, saying the proposed calculation would effectively result in a wage increase of approximately 16 percent, and countered that 230 hours should apply based on the working hours agreed between labor and management.
Management also floated an alternative of 209 hours, citing cases in other municipalities and related court rulings, an approach it said would amount to a 6 to 7 percent wage increase and, combined with additional raises, a total increase of 10.32 percent.
Management had also pushed to settle the ordinary wage dispute in this round of talks, but the union reportedly declined to engage on the issue, leaving both sides to conclude negotiations having agreed only on the wage increase.
Buses are lined up in front of Seoul Station in Yongsan District, central Seoul.YONHAP
"The agreement isn't entirely satisfying, but we tried not to go on strike for the sake of citizens," leader of the Seoul Bus Drivers Labor Union Park Jeom-gon told reporters. "We're relieved it was settled smoothly."
"The lawsuits over ordinary wages agree on the 176-hour standard, but they differ on some secondary issues, which makes it hard to handle them all at once," Park continued. "We still disagree on this point, but we agreed to let the courts decide in accordance with the law."
Kim Jeong-hwan, head of the Seoul Bus Operators Association, said management "put in a lot of effort" on the ordinary wage issue but failed to reach an agreement.
"This will be a big burden for both labor and management," he added. "We couldn't leave citizens stranded with a strike, so we were pressed for time and had our limits.
"City buses are a public-interest business. I think we need to hold more in-depth negotiations and consider designating it as an essential public-interest business so that citizens' commutes are never held up again."
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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