BUSAN — Wage and collective bargaining talks between Busan Transportation Corp. and its labor union broke down on the first day in office of new Chief Executive Kim Tae-ho. With the union declaring a full strike from the first train on the 23rd, Busan's urban rail system faces its first walkout since 2019.
The two sides held a final round of bargaining at the Nopo rail depot at 3 p.m. on the 22nd in a last-ditch attempt to reach a deal but failed to find common ground, according to the Busan Metropolitan Government and the corporation. Kim, the ninth chief executive of Busan Transportation Corp., received the letter of appointment a day earlier and went straight to the negotiating table on the 22nd without holding a separate inauguration ceremony, representing management in the talks. Even so, the gap between the two sides proved too wide to bridge.
The central issue is how many additional workers to hire ahead of the opening of the Yangsan Line in December. The union demanded large-scale additional recruitment to ensure safe operations and keep workloads at appropriate levels. Management, saddled with accumulated financial losses of more than 500 billion won ($350 million), said it could not accept the union's proposal, citing total labor cost guidelines set by the central and local governments. The two sides had held 18 rounds of talks since May, and mediation by the Busan Regional Labor Relations Commission also collapsed on the 29th of last month.
With the final negotiations having failed and the union set to walk out from the first train on the 23rd as announced, the city government is immediately activating emergency transport measures.
The city plans to deploy essential and replacement personnel to keep overall urban rail service at an average of about 75% of normal levels on weekdays during the strike. On Lines 1 through 3, where ridership is heaviest, trains will run at normal four- to five-minute intervals during morning and evening rush hours. Intervals will stretch to between eight and 20 minutes, or about 58% of normal service, during off-peak daytime hours. Line 4, which runs on a fully automated driverless system, will operate at 100% regardless of the strike.
To ease inconvenience for residents, the city will also suspend the day-of-the-week driving restriction program from the first day of the strike, concentrate taxis around major stations and add buses on key city routes. If the strike drags on and the corporation requests staffing support, the city plans to send its own officials to stations to help with duties such as station operations.