Breaking News Feared 'Morning Commute Traffic Chaos' on 4th Did Not Occur

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Kim Gap-dong] City buses, which are the lifeline of 14.1 million Gyeonggi residents and the backbone of the province's transportation system, will continue operating without interruption.

Following a marathon negotiation that began the day before the strike notice on the 3rd, a final dramatic agreement was reached at 4 a.m.

Early morning on the 4th, the final wage negotiations between the Gyeonggi Bus Labor Union Council and the Gyeonggi Bus Transport Business Association reached an agreement with mediation from Gyeonggi Province, leading to the withdrawal of the planned general strike of Gyeonggi city buses and allowing the avoidance of the feared morning commute traffic chaos.

This negotiation, in which wage increase rates for the public management system (semi-public operation) and private sector were the key issue, reached a dramatic conclusion with labor and management agreeing on a 7% wage increase for public management system transport workers and a 7% wage increase (fixed 280,000 won) for private sector workers.

Previously, Gyeonggi Province bus labor and management had shown differences over wage increase proposals for the public management system and private sector. The union had demanded a 12.32% hourly wage increase for the public management system and a 21.86% hourly wage increase for the private sector, but the company side expressed that it was difficult to accept the union's wage increase demands due to financial constraints, leading to a notice of a full strike starting from the first bus on the 4th.

Governor Kim Dong-yeon visited the final mediation meeting site of the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission early morning on the 4th and said, "Despite difficult circumstances, you made a good decision by making mutual compromises and cooperating for the sake of provincial residents." He continued, "With people's livelihoods being very difficult recently and many citizens worried about the medical crisis, I express gratitude on behalf of 14.1 million provincial residents for both labor and management ensuring smooth school commutes and work commutes without disrupting transportation for residents," congratulating the conclusion of the negotiations.

He added, "I reiterate my promise to steadily fulfill the transportation commitments made with provincial residents, including the bus public management system. We will work together to ensure buses become more advanced and provide better services for residents."

Lee Ki-cheon, Chairman of the Gyeonggi Bus Labor Union Council, said, "Gyeonggi buses have endured much hardship for over 20 years under long working hours and low wages, but with Governor Kim Dong-yeon's leadership, significant progress is being made. After many people's efforts, we achieved a good result. I hope Gyeonggi buses will become buses where everyone works together."

Kim Ki-sung, Chairman of the Gyeonggi Bus Transport Business Association, said, "I appreciate the efforts of the Gyeonggi Region Labor Relations Commission chairpersons in making this decision and Governor Kim for visiting the site. The significance of this labor-management cooperation is that it has laid another foundation for Gyeonggi buses to become a better service."

Governor Kim Dong-yeon personally visited the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission negotiation site on the evening of the 3rd to encourage final agreement between labor and management and worked to prevent traffic chaos.

Governor Kim has continued to play the role of mediator between bus labor and management. In 2022 and again in October last year during city bus wage negotiations, when discussions between labor and management reached an impasse, he made a surprise visit to the negotiation site, promising to resolve wage gap issues with other metropolitan areas during his term, thereby facilitating labor-management agreement.