Seoul : Bus drivers in Seoul returned to work Thursday, hours after they went on the first general strike in 12 years to demand a wage hike.
The Seoul Bus Labor Union reached a deal on a 4.48 percent wage hike plus 650,000 won ($482.2) in holiday bonuses with their employers under the mediation of the Seoul city government, city officials said, about 11 hours after the general strike was launched.
Bus drivers immediately returned to work, fully normalizing bus services in the capital ahead of the evening rush hour.
The union, which has about 18,000 members at 65 companies, had gone on the strike, affecting 7,210 intracity buses, representing 97.6 percent of the capital’s bus services, after its last-minute wage negotiations conducted from Wednesday until early Thursday morning had failed to strike a deal over the union’s demand for a 12.7 percent increase in hourly wages.
