The Korean Railway Workers' Union(KRWU) and subway workers' unions in major cities of Seoul, Busan, Incheon, Daegu, Kwangju and Daejeon announced that they will go on a joint strike.
They warned that if the government continues to impose the performance appraisal system to dismiss the low performing workers and the business outsourcing and if it does not supplement the safety personnel, they will go on a joint strike on September 27, which will be then jointly led again after 22 years by the trade unions of both railways and subways.
The national council of subway workers' unions under the umbrella of the Korean Public and Social Services and Transportation Workers' Unions on September 7 held a press conference at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions(KCTU) and insisted that if the performance appraisal system is introduced in the railways and subways, the profit-seeking management will come to the front, while the safety will be seriously threatened.
If the government does not listen to their demand to put the safety of people ahead, they will go on a strike on September 27. The national council has the membership of 36,000 unionized workers from 8 railway and subway trade unions.
The railways and subways are designated as the essential public services that limit the right for labor disputes.
During the strike period, the minimum level of essential service maintenance shall be provided in accordance with the collective agreement or the interpretation of the labor relations commission. Trade unions are currently working on how to increase the impact of the planned strike and mobilization of workers to the joint strike.
They will increase the subway operation frequencies during the rush hours to ease the inconveniences of the commuters and reduce the operation during the less-busy hours to get stronger responses from the unionized workers.
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