After last-ditch attempts to negotiate a wage increase failed, bus drivers in the South Korean capital of Seoul went on strike on Thursday ( Mar 28 ), snarling the commute for the city of more than 9 million people and another million from the outskirts.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that the train would operate for extended periods of time with the addition of more trains. During hurry hours, disruptions were anticipated.
The state’s 25 regions will also provide 480 shuttle buses to take travellers to train stations.
The whole- level hit by the state’s vehicle owners is the first in 12 years. Their final attack lasted for around 20 days.
The conversations between the Seoul Bus Labour Union, which represents owners serving 97 per cent of vehicle operations, and their companies failed after the government’s need for a 12.7 per cent climb in hourly wages was dismissed as “excessive”, Yonhap reported.
After the talks ended at sunrise, some Seoul residents were left perplexed on Thursday night, according to the Yonhap news agency.
Yoon Jong- chang, the head of the Transportation Planning Bureau at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, stated in a statement that “we’ll create an all-out efforts to get an agreement between the union and the management quickly.”
Buses in Seoul are run on a quasi-public system, with private companies taking over the buses while Seoul’s city authorities strongly subsidies and regulates the system to ensure accessibility of services.
Seoul Mayor Oh Se- ho pleaded for a sharp settlement. ” City cars are the arms of the people, their livelihood and normal lives absolutely depend on them”, he said.