[Gangnam Perspective] Frozen Bus Stops, Citizens Taken Hostage

In the early hours of January 13, Seoul citizens froze at bus stops. In sub-zero temperatures, the information displays indifferently repeated only “waiting for departure” and “at depot.” It was the day 6,540 buses in the Seoul city bus system came to a halt. As I walked to the subway station, I wondered: Who on earth is this strike really for?
That day, the subway in Seoul was thrown into chaos, with about 20% more passengers than usual. The news section of every web portal was flooded with headlines about “93.2% of services suspended.” Commuters packed into the hellish rush-hour trains must have realized something: this bus strike was not a fight against management, but a fight against the citizens.
The strike lasted only two days, yet even that set a record as the longest ever. In just those two days, the Seoul Metropolitan Government spent more than 2 billion won. It paid 560 million won to run additional subway services and 1.5 billion won to lease chartered buses. The cost of the labor dispute was effectively covered by taxpayers. Had the strike dragged on, another zero would likely have been added to those figures.
I have no intention of belittling the hard work of bus drivers. I understand that spending an entire day behind the wheel while dealing with all kinds of complaints is anything but easy. However, this strike did not engrave their efforts in people’s minds; instead, it left a stark stigma of “collective selfishness.” There was barely any prior notice, and citizens could only be bewildered.
The crux of the problem lies in the semi-public operation system. The Seoul city bus system is run by private companies, but any deficit is covered by the Seoul Metropolitan Government with tax money. The accumulated deficit now stands at 1 trillion won. With 65% of bus operating costs going to labor, the labor union’s demand for wage hikes directly taps into the city’s budget—that is, into citizens’ pockets.
But was management’s offer really so inadequate that the labor union had no choice but to strike for two full days? Management proposed a 10.3% wage increase based on the statutory monthly working time of 209 hours—an unusually high figure. The labor union, however, insisted on applying a 176-hour standard, effectively demanding an increase of more than 16%. Even compared with settlements reached by other local governments such as Busan Metropolitan City and Daegu Metropolitan City, this level is unprecedented.
If we take the labor union’s claims at face value, the Seoul Metropolitan Government would be forced to shoulder additional expenditures in the hundreds of billions of won. The city is already plugging massive deficits with tax revenue; fully accepting the union’s demands would pose a serious threat to fiscal soundness.
A phrase I once saw in a shared restroom comes to mind: “If you lack confidence, take one more step forward.” The labor union made its demands with confidence—but did it, in fact, take one more step forward to think about the citizens? Under the semi-public operation system, it is not management but the citizens who pay bus workers’ wages. The labor union knows this perfectly well.
Some have also raised another question: “Did the Seoul Metropolitan Government really do its best?” It is perhaps natural that people would question the city’s responsibility. Yet if we look at the facts, we can see more clearly on which side the greater share of blame lies.
Right before the strike, the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission proposed a mediation plan of a 0.5% base pay increase separate from ordinary wages, along with an extension of the retirement age. Despite the difficulty of having to abandon its push to overhaul the wage system, management accepted the proposal outright. The labor union, however, rejected it and went ahead with the strike. The breakdown in negotiations may have been the result of mistakes on both sides, but it is clear which side bears the heavier responsibility.
Under the semi-public operation system, bus workers and citizens are in the same boat. If the interests of one side grow disproportionately, the boat capsizes. During the two days when buses stopped, what did citizens feel as they stared at the blinking “waiting for departure” message on the displays at freezing bus stops? Like the buses that refused to depart, our society, too, stands still in place. The labor union shouted about “workers’ rights,” yet it did not mention that those rights are sustained by citizens’ taxes. Management and the Seoul Metropolitan Government have effectively been given a pass on the grounds that they “did what they could,” but the time bomb of a 1-trillion-won deficit is still ticking. What did the labor union gain? Only anger and condemnation. From this strike, in which there were no winners, we are once again reminded of a simple truth: in any strike that holds the public interest hostage, citizens will always end up as the hostages.
ahnman@fnnews.com Seung-hyun Ahn, National News Editor Reporter