The Seoul city bus union plans to resume their work-to-rule protest starting from the 7th, after the holiday.
On the 6th, the Seoul city government announced through safety information texts that they will implement special transportation measures including increased subway services and strengthened on-site inspections.
This work-to-rule protest will proceed in the same manner as before, following the Labor Standards Act, such as reducing speed during operation. Consequently, bus intervals may lengthen, and the operation of some routes may slow down.
It is reported that during the holiday period, negotiations between the Seoul city bus labor and management continued, but no progress was made in the wage and collective agreement negotiations. The union conducted a one-day work-to-rule protest on the 30th of last month after the negotiations broke down, but maintained normal operations during the holiday.
The Seoul city government has decided to enhance subway services to alleviate congestion during rush hours. They will extend the subway congestion hours from 7 AM to 10 AM by one hour and add a total of 47 train services on lines 1 to 8 and the Ui-Sinseol line. There will be no operation of free shuttle buses in the districts. Additionally, to prevent the issue of buses arriving together due to lead buses being stopped for long periods at stops during the previous protest, civil servants will be deployed at key central bus lane stops.
Jang-kwon Yeo, the Director of Transportation for Seoul city, stated, “We will take firm action in cases where intentional delays are suspected and utilize all possible means to ensure citizens can use public transportation reliably.”