Seoul city bus union calls off strike after reaching last-minute wage deal

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SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- The union representing Seoul city bus workers called off a strike Wednesday after reaching a last-minute deal with management to increase wages by 3.2 percent.

The union and management held marathon talks for nearly 12 hours at the regional labor relations commission and agreed at 1:50 a.m. to the 3.2 percent increase for 2026, which is 0.3 percentage point higher than the 2.9 percent increase last year.

This undated file photo shows buses in Seoul. (Yonhap)

With the agreement, the union withdrew plans to launch a general strike starting with the first buses at 4 a.m. Wednesday. All bus routes were running normally in the morning.

A key sticking point in the negotiations had been how to calculate the hourly wage rate after including regular bonuses in ordinary wages.

No agreement was reached on the issue, however, and the two sides agreed to postpone a decision on the calculation method until after the Supreme Court delivers a ruling on a related case at the end of the year.

The union has called for calculating ordinary wages based on 176 monthly work hours and raising wages by 7.85 percent. However, bus companies and the Seoul city government have rejected the demand, saying the proposed calculation would effectively result in a wage increase of approximately 16 percent.

City buses in Seoul and other big cities nationwide are operated under a semi-public management system, in which bus companies run the services while the municipal government covers their losses.

The Seoul city government estimates that a 1 percent wage increase would add about 14 billion won (US$10.3 million) in annual costs and that accepting all of the union's demands could double the city's annual bus system deficit to about 1 trillion won.

Representatives of Seoul's city bus companies and unionized bus workers clap after reaching a last-minute wage deal at the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission in the capital city on Sept. 16, 2026. (Yonhap)

hague@yna.co.kr (END)

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Seoul city bus union calls off strike after reaching last-minute wage deal

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首尔，9月16日（韩联社）——代表首尔市公交车工人的工会周三取消了罢工，此前该工会与管理层达成最后一刻协议，将工资提高3.2%。

工会和管理层在地区劳资关系委员会进行了近 12 个小时的马拉松式谈判，并在凌晨 1 点 50 分达成一致，2026 年工资增长 3.2%，比去年的 2.9% 增长高出 0.3 个百分点。

这张未注明日期的资料照片显示的是首尔的公交车。（韩联社）

根据协议，工会撤回了原定于周三凌晨4点从首班车开始发起的总罢工计划。当天上午所有公交线路均正常运行。

谈判中的一个关键症结在于，在将常规奖金计入普通工资后，如何计算小时工资率。

然而，双方并未就此问题达成一致，并同意将计算方法的决定推迟到最高法院在年底对相关案件作出裁决之后。

工会要求将正常工资按每月176小时工作制计算，并提高7.85%。然而，公交公司和首尔市政府拒绝了这一要求，称该计算方法实际上会导致工资上涨约16%。

首尔和全国其他大城市的城市公交车采用半公共管理制度运营，公交公司负责运营服务，而市政府则承担其亏损。

首尔市政府估计，工资上涨 1% 将使每年的成本增加约 140 亿韩元（1030 万美元），而接受工会的所有要求可能会使该市公交系统的年度赤字翻一番，达到约 1 万亿韩元。

2026年9月16日，首尔市公交车公司代表和公交车工会成员在首尔地方劳动关系委员会达成最后一刻的工资协议后鼓掌庆祝。（韩联社）

hague@yna.co.kr (完)

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首尔市公交车工会达成最后一刻的工资协议后，取消罢工。