Seoul subway workers gear up for strike vote

A sign is up inside a subway station near Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, showing Seoul will run 20 percent fewer subway trains after 10 p.m. (Yonhap)

Seoul’s subway workers are mulling a full-scale strike as Seoul Metro prepares to carry out a massive restructuring plan to resolve continuing financial losses.

Unionized workers at Seoul Metro are planning to hold a vote, along with union members who work for subway corporations in Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Incheon and Gwangju, from Aug. 16 to 19 to decide whether to launch a full-scale strike to protest Seoul Metro’s plan to reduce its head count by 1,539 employees.

Seoul Metro’s plan is aimed at cutting 10 percent of its 16,700 employees and mitigating its accumulated loss of more than 1 trillion won ($875.81 million). The plan would also reduce benefits, freeze wages and outsource some duties to the private sector.

South Korea capital’s public transportation authority has incurred losses of more than 500 billion won for three consecutive years, since 2019.

The corporation recorded a net loss of 1.11 trillion won due to the decreased number of passengers as a result of COVID-19 and it is expected that Seoul Metro will record its highest loss this year, above 1.6 trillion won.

Unionized workers have asked Seoul Metro to make up for the losses with financial support from the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the central government. They attribute the continued losses to excessive transfer discounts and the fact that transit fees have been frozen since 2015.

The Seoul Metro labor union denounced the restructuring plan, saying it was scapegoating laborers in a time of financial difficulty and that its implementation would set a precedent, bringing on more unfair treatment for workers when the transit authority struggles again later.

The union also argues that customer safety will be an issue if the head count is reduced.

The group of unionized workers from the six major cities plans to wage a full-scale strike in Seoul by early September and to do likewise in the other major cities by October. This is expected to cause immense difficulties for many subway commuters.

They demand that metropolitan transit authorities be treated the same as the Korea Railroad Corporation in terms of government support. Under the Framework Act on Railroad Industry Development, around 60 percent of Korail’s annual losses are covered by government funds.

Based on past cases, the unionized workers’ demands appear somewhat likely to be heard. The group of unions threatened a full-scale strike in October 2019, demanding that transit authorities hire more workers for improved safety, but the collective action was averted due to successful negotiations with the authorities.

By Ko Jun-tae(ko.juntae@heraldcorp.com)