| Buses that usually operate in the Sokcho and Goseong areas of Gangwon Province are parked in a garage in Gangneung, Monday, after drivers of the company went on a strike to protest a possible salary cut due to the implementation of the 52-hour workweek in |
By Kang Seung-woo
Bus drivers have warned they will stage a nationwide strike starting May 15 in protest of a possible salary cut. Unless their companies come up with countermeasures, they will face a cut in their incomes in July when the 52-hour workweek system is applied to them.
While the drivers and their companies say the central government should provide them with financial support, the government is against the demand. So concerns are rising over potential public transport chaos if compromises are not made soon.
According to the Korean Automobile and Transport Workers' Federation, Thursday, trade unions from 234 of the nation's 479 companies, which have 41,280 bus drivers and 20,138 buses, have asked 11 regional employment and labor administrations for labor dispute mediation, after negotiations failed to reach agreements.
The 11 regions are Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Gwangju, Ulsan, Changwon and Cheongju, and Gyeonggi, South Jeolla and South Chungcheong provinces.
The dispute has come ahead of implementation of the 52-hour workweek system to bus companies with more than 300 employees in July after a one-year grace period.
In the bus industry, almost all drivers work overtime, for up to nearly 70 hours a week, because their base pay is small. Given that, if the drivers can't work more than 52 hours a week, it will drastically reduce their total paycheck, the federation says.
According to the Korea Research Institute of Transportation Industries, an average monthly paycheck for a bus driver is 3.54 million won ($3,000), but the base pay is only 49 percent of the total and the rest consists of overtime allowance.
The federation claims that for example bus drivers in Gyeonggi Province are projected to work three or four fewer days due to the mandatory workweek system, resulting in a loss of 800,000 won to 1.1 million won from their usual income.
“After the 52-hour workweek takes effect in July, the number of working days will be reduced by two or three days per month on average. To make up for the loss of wages, the employers need to raise the base pay,” a federation official said.
Along with the wage issue, the driver unions are calling on the operators to hire more new drivers.
They estimate the companies need an additional 15,000 drivers, but only 1,250 have been added so far.
However, the employers are opposed to the federation's demands, citing the snowballing burden of personnel expenses.
“The drivers and the companies have held multiple rounds of negotiations but little progress was made,” the official said. “Failure in mediation will lead to a walkout.”
Drivers in some cities in Gangwon Province have already started a walkout, and the city governments are providing charter buses as a temporary measure.
Amid the labor dispute, there are growing whispers that the disagreement may end in a fare hike.
The central and local governments are discussing practical measures to prevent bus drivers from going on strike.
“For bus companies hiring new bus drivers to reduce the weekly working hours to 52, we advise them to take advantage of a government project that supports a part of personnel expenses for small companies,” a labor ministry official said.