Busan Metro labor and management agree to 3.5% wage increase; some agenda items remain unresolved
Busan Transportation Corporation, which operates the Busan Metro, and its union have reached a tentative agreement in collective bargaining (negotiations between labor and management to set wages and working conditions) that includes a 3.5% wage increase this year. The two sides produced the agreement at around 11 p.m. on the 22nd at the Nopo train depot in Geumjeong District, Busan, after roughly six hours of talks that began at 3 p.m. A meeting attended by three representatives from each side, including the CEO and the union chief, lasted more than an hour, during which the tentative agreement was drawn up.
However, differences could not be narrowed over some wording in the agreement regarding a 'win-win consultative body' through which labor and management of the parent company and its subsidiaries (companies under the same corporate group) would communicate together, prompting the union to declare a breakdown in negotiations on that agenda item. During the talks, workers at subsidiary Busan Urban Railway Operation Service opposed a provision related to annual leave, which at one point delayed signing.
In addition to the wage increase, the tentative agreement includes the formation of a joint labor-management task force to ensure objectivity in staffing decisions, such as calculating on-site safety personnel. The agreed items also cover improvements to the treatment of facilities-management workers and shift systems, as well as plans to increase staffing at subsidiaries and eliminate discriminatory treatment.
With the union agreeing to withdraw its strike, train services are expected to run normally for now. The tentative agreement will be finalized after ratification by the union's delegates' council and a vote by union members. Once confirmed, labor and management at Busan Transportation Corporation will have reached a settlement without industrial action in collective bargaining for the seventh consecutive year.
