Daejeon Bus Driver Strike Ends

Wage negotiations between Daejeon City bus drivers and management were concluded on the morning of July 3, 12 days after the beginning of strikes.

As a result, 898 city buses resumed operating that day.

Both labor and management agreed to a 4.0 percent wage hike, including a 3 percent increase in hourly pay and a 1 percent increase in the form of special bonuses funded by the company. The agreement was a complete failure for the labor union.

The bus drivers’ strike unfolded in a way unprecedented from previous traffic-related strikes in Korea.

During the prolonged strikes, Daejeon citizens strongly criticized the unionists, while calling on the municipal government to never give in to their demands.

This is an about-face from previous strikes in which the public asked for a quick resolution no matter what in order to ease the public inconvenience.

Before June 22, the scheduled start date for its strike, the Daejeon City bus drivers’ union was determined not to budge at all from its demand for a 10.4 percent increase in base salary. It refused an arbitration proposal offered by South Chungcheong Province right before the strikes.

However, things changed with mounting public complaints about its strike.

Over a thousand postings calling for an end to the strike were posted on the Daejeon municipal government’s Internet web page. Some called for the reform of the public management system for bus operations introduced in July 2005 to improve the quality of service.

In the end, the bus union accepted a pay hike much lower than its original demands. Consequently, the union is holding its leadership accountable, and some are even talking about replacing the leaders.

In addition, if civil or criminal charges are pressed for holding an illegal strike, the city bus labor union is likely to face further internal conflicts.

doyocedonga.com