Seoul Metro Union Votes to Initiate Labor Dispute ... “Will Strike If Negotiations Make No Progress”

[Financial News] The Seoul Metro Labor Union voted on the 15th to initiate a labor dispute, calling for wage increases and the withdrawal of workforce reduction plans, among other demands. The union says it will launch a strike if negotiations make no progress.
The union said it had held an extraordinary delegates’ meeting that day and voted to initiate a labor dispute to secure a 2026 wage and collective agreement. Earlier, at the third round of main negotiations held on the 29th of last month, the union declared that talks with management had broken down.
The union’s key demands are a 3.5% wage increase; full withdrawal of the plan to cut 2,212 staff; hiring 1,313 additional workers by year-end; national government funding for public service costs; and making two-person teams mandatory in the field.
The union claimed that management had cited consultations with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and an organizational review, among other reasons, but had offered no concrete measures addressing the key demands.
Accordingly, the union will apply for mediation of the labor dispute with the Seoul Regional Labor Relations Commission on the 16th, and hold a vote on whether to take industrial action from the 2nd to the 5th of next month. On the 6th of next month, it plans to hold a joint press conference with the Korean Railway Workers’ Union and others to announce the vote results and its plans, then hold a general assembly of members on the 17th and begin a work-to-rule campaign on the 20th. If negotiations still make no progress after that, it plans to take industrial action, including a strike.
The union emphasized, “This decision to initiate a labor dispute is not simply a demand for wage increases; it is a decision to protect the safety of workers and citizens by preventing large-scale workforce reductions and hiring additional frontline staff to fill staffing shortages.”

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