Bus drivers call off strike

Bus drivers in Seoul called off their scheduled strike early Thursday after they reached a wage increase agreement with employers.

The unionized bus drivers and bus company owners agreed to raise hourly wages by 3.7 percent. The drivers were demanding a 7.29 percent rise and additional welfare benefits while bus owners sought to freeze wages.

The drivers’ union had threatened to stage a strike from Saturday unless their demands were accepted. Over 90 percent of the union members on Wednesday voted for the walkout.

The compromise, however, invited criticism that the drivers held public transportation hostage for personal gain, citing a rise in bus fares going into effect from Saturday.

Earlier this month, Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would increase public transportation fares to address a budget deficit and service improvement. The bus fares will jump by 150 won ($0.14) to 1,200 won.

Some claimed that the majority of the extra revenue from the fare hike will be used to cover the drivers’ wage increases.

Since July 2004, Seoul City has introduced a quasi-public operation system for buses. Under this system, a joint group manages the revenue of the bus companies while the city covers the deficit in exchange of holding the authority to determine the bus routes.

The city has annually covered about 300 billion won in losses while the wages of drivers were hiked by over 160 percent since it adopted the new operation system, sources said.

“Causing concerns over the bus strike ahead of the fare hike suggests that the drivers and the employers only considered their own interests important, particularly when the public at the moment is in confusion over the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak,” said an official from civic group Wirae in the eastern capital.

In May 2012, bus drivers threatened to stage a strike over the wage hike but canceled it after the raise was agreed.

By Lee Hyun-jeong (rene@heraldcorp.com)