City sends letters to 4 major business groups
1,318 elementary, middle and high schools asked to stagger start times
Oh Se-hoon vows to keep commutes and school runs on track
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday it has asked private companies and schools to adjust working and school start times in preparation for a possible strike by the Seoul City Bus Labor Union set to begin Wednesday. The city aims to minimize disruption by expanding alternative transport — including free shuttle buses and additional subway runs — while spreading out peak-hour travel demand.
On Monday, the city sent official letters to four major business groups — the Seoul Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Seoul regional headquarters of the Korea Federation of SMEs, the Seoul Economic Association and the Seoul chapter of the Korea Women Entrepreneurs Association — urging their member companies to stagger work start times and make active use of flexible working arrangements if the strike goes ahead.
The four groups represent a combined 131,686 member companies. The city asked them to adopt staggered commuting hours and other flexible work arrangements from Wednesday through the end of any strike, based on each company's circumstances, to ease peak-hour traffic demand.
The city is also taking steps to reduce disruption for students. It asked the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education to adjust school start times and allow teaching staff to use staggered work hours. The request covers all 1,318 city schools — 609 elementary schools, 390 middle schools and 319 high schools — and the city said it would work with the education office to keep student commutes as smooth as possible and ensure normal school operations continue.
The union has warned it will launch a full strike from the first bus run Wednesday if its demands are not met. It is seeking a roughly 24 percent wage increase — comprising an approximately 16 percent rise in regular wages plus a 7.85 percent increase in base pay.
Also on Tuesday morning, Mayor Oh Se-hoon chaired an emergency readiness meeting to review the city's contingency transport plans across all sectors. The city said it is mobilizing every available administrative resource to limit the impact on residents if labor-management negotiations break down. In the event of a strike, the city's priority measures include a significant expansion of free shuttle bus services; increased subway frequency with last-train extensions doubled; flexible working arrangements for Seoul city government and affiliated public institutions; requests to elementary, middle and high schools to adjust start times; encouragement of remote and flexible work at private companies; and guidance for foreign residents on alternative transport options.
"Even if the strike becomes a reality, I will do everything possible to ensure that citizens' daily travel — commutes and school runs alike — is disrupted as little as possible," Oh said. "We will secure every available means of transport, including free shuttle buses and subways, while working with businesses on flexible hours and with the education office on adjusted school start times to help spread out demand."
ikson@heraldcorp.com
