"No Bus Strike This Year"... Wage Agreement Reached in Changwon City Bus Pre-Adjustment Talks

Changwon Special City and Related Agencies
Active Mediation Leads to Labor-Management Agreement

The labor and management of Changwon city buses, previously stigmatized by annual strikes, have reached an agreement on wage negotiations during the first pre-adjustment session.

Changwon Special City in Gyeongnam Province announced on August 9 that, at the fifth pre-adjustment session held at the Gyeongnam Regional Labor Relations Commission around 2:30 a.m. on August 8, both parties finalized a wage negotiation agreement for city bus workers before filing for extraordinary mediation, marking the first such occurrence since the introduction of the quasi-public operation system.

Group photo of the first pre-adjustment wage negotiation settlement for city buses in Changwon.
[Photo by Changwon City]

Wage negotiations between city bus labor and management, which began in February, went through five rounds of autonomous bargaining until May but failed to reach an agreement. As a result, both sides, upon mutual consent, applied to the pre-mediation support system at the Gyeongnam Regional Labor Relations Commission in June. Since then, three pre-adjustment sessions have been held.

At the fourth pre-adjustment session that began at 10:00 a.m. on August 7, both sides approached the talks with a sense of urgency, but finding common ground proved difficult.

To break this deadlock, the city’s bus operations division and other related agencies stepped in to actively mediate the negotiations.

Labor auditors from the Ministry of Employment and Labor, as well as seasoned public interest committee members and investigators from the Gyeongnam Regional Labor Relations Commission who had participated in the negotiation process, also played an important role by maintaining active communication between labor and management.

Thanks to these efforts, the workers requested good-faith bargaining from the company, and the management participated sincerely, creating an environment where the gap between both sides could be narrowed.

Around midnight on August 7, at the end of the fourth pre-adjustment session, both parties made a decisive move amid tense negotiations and proceeded to change the session number. After extending negotiations until 2:30 a.m., during the fifth pre-adjustment session, a final agreement was reached.

This agreement includes the application of the same wage increase rate as civil servants for city bus workers over the next two years, as well as a plan to pursue a tripartite declaration of a 'no-strike' commitment among labor, management, and government during August.

Changwon city buses have endured three strikes over the past six years and have struggled with a reputation for frequent labor disputes. In particular, last year, a six-day strike prompted by the national issue of ordinary wage calculations led to increased calls for improvements in the quasi-public operation system.

Kang Kiyoon, Mayor of Changwon Special City, said, "I thank both labor and management for their concessions and decisive actions, which allowed us to reach an agreement at the pre-adjustment stage for the first time since the introduction of the quasi-public operation system, in response to our citizens’ expectations." He added, "I ask both parties to provide the best service so that citizens can use city buses comfortably and safely. The city will also make every effort to ensure that labor relations in city buses remain harmonious going forward."

Citizens of Changwon have expressed relief at the news of the agreement, feeling fortunate that the city can move beyond its reputation of annual bus strikes.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.