Seoul subway strike ends after agreement, services back to normal

Seoul Metro CEO Kim Sang-bum, center, holds a written agreement between labor and management with representatives from Seoul Metro's labor unions. Unionized workers at Seoul Metro reached an agreement with the management on Thursday. [NEWS1]

 
Seoul Metro workers have reached an agreement with management, bringing a strike that began on Wednesday to an end.
 
Subway operations on lines in the capital affected by the strike were operating normally as of 5:30 a.m. Thursday, which is when the metro opens for the day.
 
Labor and management resumed negotiations at the company’s headquarters in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul, at around 8 p.m. Wednesday and reached an agreement at around midnight.
 
The workers have been demanding the withdrawal of a plan to reduce headcount. They also demanded an increase in the number of safety workers in the wake of a recent suspected stalking murder of a Seoul Metro employee.
 
Seoul Metro, which is struggling with a yearly loss of 1 trillion won ($770 million), planned to cut 1,539 workers, or about 10 percent of its staff, by 2026.
 
The management agreed not to go through with the plan.
 
It also accepted some of the safety-related demands and agreed to raise total wages paid by 1.4 percent this year.
 
While the strike that affected Seoul subway lines 1 through 8 ended Thursday morning, delays continue on lines 1, 3 and 4, which are managed by both Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail) and Seoul Metro, due to a separate work-to-rule strike by the railway union.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]