Commuters move busily to catch subway trains in Seoul, in this file photo taken Nov. 20, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — Seoul Metro, the operator of subway lines 1-8, said Friday that 27 trains were delayed by more than 20 minutes on the previous day, the second day of a slowdown strike by its unionized workers.
With 3,189 subway trains in operation Thursday, their on-time rate stood at 99.1 percent, the operator said, noting the current law defines a delayed train as one that is delayed by more than 20 minutes.
Compared with the first day of the unionized workers’ “work-to-rule” protest, the number of delayed trains decreased by 98 and the on-time rate increased by 3.1 percentage points, it added.
The biggest of the three labor unions of Seoul Metro has threatened to go on a general strike on Dec. 6 unless their demands for wage and staff hiring increases are met.
The planned strike and a similar walkout threat from the unionized workers of KTX and regular train operator KORAIL are expected to cause massive rail service disruptions nationwide early next month.
The Korean Railway Workers’ Union has threatened to launch an indefinite general strike on Dec. 5 to demand higher pay and a bigger workforce.
On Friday, 18 of 474 KORAIL-managed subway and above-ground trains that ran in the greater Seoul area from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. were delayed by more than 20 minutes, up from 14 during the same hours the previous day, according to the company.
(Yonhap)
