First Seoul subway strike in six years snarls evening trains

Seoul subway workers went on strike Wednesday for the first time in six years.

Commuters heading home after work crowd a platform in Chungmuro Station on Seoul Subway Line 4 on Wednesday evening, after Seoul Metro workers went on strike for the first time in six years. [YONHAP]

Seoul subway workers went on strike Wednesday for the first time in six years.

Commuters faced some chaos during the evening rush hour and travel delays, despite no serious disruptions during morning peak hours.

Seoul Metro's two labor unions affiliated with Korea’s two umbrella groups — the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) — started a walkout from 6:30 a.m. Wednesday after negotiations broke down late Tuesday night. Unionized workers number 13,000, or 80 percent of the entire workforce.

The strike affects subway lines 1 through 8, and is the first in six years.

According to Seoul Metro, subway Line 1 heading to Soyosan Station saw eight-minute delays and trains heading to Sinchang and Incheon saw five-minute delays during the morning commute time around 7 a.m.

Other lines operated on time after Seoul Metro mobilized retired employees and non-unionized workers as replacements between 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.

“I left for work a little earlier than usual this morning, but I didn’t experience any [delays],” said Kim Eun-soo, an office worker in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, who took metro lines 5 and 1 at around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. “In fact, there were fewer people in the subway than usual.”

“I took metro lines 9 and 2 at around 9:30 a.m. but didn’t have any disruptions to my commute,” said Park Gee-na, who works near Seoul City Hall, central Seoul.

People wait on a platform at Sindorim subway station on Wednesday, when Seoul Metro workers went on strike. The sign says fewer cars will operate on Lines 1, 3 and 4. [NEWS1]

During the day, however, when fewer people use the system, metro operations were expected to fall to 72.7 percent of normal, and 85.7 percent during evening rush hour.

The strike came after negotiations between the unions and Seoul Metro failed to resolve disputes over downsizing.

The workers are demanding the withdrawal of a plan to downsize the labor force and an increase in safety workers in the wake of a recent suspected stalking murder of a female Seoul Metro employee.

Seoul Metro, which is struggling with a yearly loss of 1 trillion won, plans to cut 1,539 workers, or about 10 percent of its staff, by 2026.

The two unions held eight hours of lower-level talks Tuesday with the company over the operator’s proposed downsizing plan, but failed to reach agreement and declared a breakdown at 10 p.m. Tuesday.

Unionized workers held a formal declaration of the strike at 11 a.m. on Wednesday near City Hall with some 5,000 people gathered.

“We did our best to reach an agreement through negotiations between the representatives of the labor unions and the operator,” said Kim Jeong-tak, secretary general of the labor unions. “We demanded a withdrawal of the downsizing plan, but the operator presented a final solution to reserve the plan until this year.”

“Our strike is not a political strike but a strike against restructuring,” Kim said. “We will fight off the restructuring plan.”

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon called the strike “political” while talking to the press on Wednesday morning.

“The ostensible reason for the strike centers on the restructuring plan and the management reform plan, but if we look into it deeper, we believe the background is connected with the strike of cargo truckers,” Oh said.

The subway workers' strike follows industrial action by about 7,600 unionized truckers, who have been on strike since last Thursday.

The cargo truck drivers have been demanding that the government make their freight rate system permanent and expand the type of trucks that are qualified.

Meanwhile, unionized workers of the Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail) are scheduled to launch a strike from Dec. 2, affecting even more passengers. This will affect KTX bullet trains, the Gyeongui-Jungang Line and the Suin-Bundang Line and will have a compounding effect on lines 1, 3 and 4, which are managed by both Korail and Seoul Metro.

"I booked a KTX train to Busan for Dec. 2, but got a message yesterday that the train schedule was canceled," complained Oh Ye-won, a bank worker in Gwanghwamun.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]