Agreement reached between unionized workers and government, as new plans get state committee approval
An indefinite rail workers strike planned for Tuesday has officially been halted, following a government proposal to ease caps on bonuses.
Unionized workers at Korea Railroad Corp. (Korail) and its subsidiaries have demanded that the cap, set at 80 percent of base salary, should be increased to 100 percent, as it is at other state-run corporations.
But the Korean Railway Workers' Union withdrew its strike plans after reaching an agreement with the Finance Ministry at 12:10 a.m. Tuesday, under which it will revise the bonus system in phases.
It has announced a full withdrawal its strike plans, after the ministry's bonus system proposals were approved by the government's Ownership Steering Committee for public corporations and state institutes at 2 p.m. the same day.
The new bonus scheme will set the cap at 90 percent of base salary in 2026, rising to 100 percent in 2027.
The union had initially planned to launch the strike on Dec. 11, demanding that the current system be “normalized.” That plan was also shelved when the two sides reached a tentative agreement on Dec. 10.
The union had accused the Finance Ministry of trying to block the changes it has agreed on with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
Korail operates most of Korea's train services, including the high-speed KTX, and part of the subway network in the greater Seoul area.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
