Ulsan city buses resume normal service as labor and management reach deal after overnight talks

【Financial News Ulsan=Choi Soo-sang】Labor and management at Ulsan city bus operators reached a wage agreement in the early hours of the 28th after last-minute negotiations that went down to the wire before a possible strike.
According to Ulsan Metropolitan City and the Ulsan branch of the Korea Automobile Workers’ Federation, labor and management at six city bus companies in the Ulsan area held final wage talks at a mediation meeting of the Ulsan Regional Labor Relations Commission starting at 3:30 p.m. the previous day. The union had demanded a 9% increase in hourly wages, while the companies had offered 2%. After failing to break the deadlock for some time, the two sides dramatically reached an agreement at around 3:50 a.m. that day.
The main terms of the agreement include a 5% increase in hourly wages, raising the retirement age to 65 starting in 2028, a 1,000 won increase in meal allowances, and a pilot program for cashless buses beginning in October this year.
The issue of unfunded severance pay, a major point of contention, was resolved through a plan to expand financial support proposed by Ulsan Metropolitan City on the 25th.
The city had proposed providing an additional 15 billion won this year and about 4.5 billion won annually from next year to help cover the unfunded severance liabilities of the six bus companies, which currently total 81.3 billion won.
Earlier, the union had warned that if the mediation meeting ended without a deal, it would begin a strike from the first bus of the day.


[email protected] Choi Soo-sang Reporter