Supreme Court ruling on ordinary wage calculation at center of dispute;

Oh says union demands would strain city finances, while union calls on mayor to come to bargaining table

A "No Strike" banner hung by the Seoul City Bus Transport Business Association is seen on a bus parked at Jingwan Public Bus Garage in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, on Friday, as the gap between labor and management over ordinary wage calculations and pay raises remains unresolved. [Yonhap]
A "No Strike" banner hung by the Seoul City Bus Transport Business Association is seen on a bus parked at Jingwan Public Bus Garage in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, on Friday, as the gap between labor and management over ordinary wage calculations and pay raises remains unresolved. [Yonhap]

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and the Seoul City Bus Workers' Union traded blame Monday over who bears responsibility for a looming strike, as the union has announced it will walk off the job Wednesday if no deal is reached by Tuesday.

In a Facebook post Monday, Oh said the union had threatened an all-out strike if wage negotiations did not go its way, calling it "barely eight months" since a January strike threw Seoul's morning and evening commutes into chaos.

Oh said the dispute traces back to a Supreme Court ruling that regular bonuses must be included in the calculation of ordinary wages. He said the union is demanding that ordinary wages be calculated on the basis of 176 working hours per month while also seeking an additional 7.85 percent raise in the hourly rate — even though related litigation over the calculation period remains pending.

He said that if all of the union's demands were met, the annual salary of a long-serving city bus driver would jump from last year's level of 68 million won ($50,500) to 85 million won — a near-20 million won increase in one go. "The spirit of the Supreme Court ruling must of course be respected," Oh said, "but using that ruling as a lever to demand a massive wage increase that would place an enormous burden on Seoul's finances all at once is excessive by any measure."

Oh added that while there was ample room to negotiate a reasonable settlement reflecting the ordinary wage ruling, the union was threatening another all-out strike on top of demanding raises beyond what the court decision requires — effectively holding citizens' right to mobility hostage in negotiations.

He also called for city buses to be designated an "essential public service," which would require minimum service levels to be maintained through essential personnel even during a strike.

Addressing the union directly, Oh urged drivers not to forget that they are responsible for the daily movement of millions of citizens. "Rather than stoking public anxiety by leading with an all-out strike, I urge you to approach negotiations with a sense of responsibility to the end," he said.

The Seoul Bus Workers' Union fired back in a statement, asking who was truly responsible for driving bus workers to strike twice.

The union said Oh had not appeared at the bargaining table even once during the January strike, and that the same was true this time around. It said that at a first mediation session held Wednesday at the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission, the union had proposed meeting every day regardless of weekends or time of day, but that Seoul city officials and management had rejected the offer.

"If Seoul city's claim that it is doing its best to reach a deal is sincere, it should come to the bargaining table first," the union said.

The union also rebuffed Oh's suggestion that the ordinary wage calculation remained legally contested, saying he must not use "the cowardly excuse of ongoing litigation" to deny the binding force of a Supreme Court ruling that has already been finalized.

The union said Seoul's refusal to communicate and its delaying tactics had already caused 50 billion won in interest on unpaid wages to evaporate needlessly. "Oh Se-hoon should be ashamed of shifting the fiscal burden of wasted taxpayer money — and the pain of fare-hike pressure — squarely onto citizens," it said.

The union called on Oh to come to the bargaining table in person and engage in dialogue with a sense of responsibility, saying the only way to avert a breakdown and minimize public inconvenience was "responsible dialogue and concrete solutions."

The Seoul City Bus Workers' Union has said it will begin striking from the first bus Wednesday if a wage agreement is not reached by Tuesday.

Seoul city officials have drawn up emergency transport measures — including free shuttle buses and increased subway service — to prepare for what would be an unprecedented second city bus strike this year.


hss@heraldcorp.com