A strike by unionized railway workers, which passed the one-week mark Sunday, is starting to affect high-speed KTX services and further setting back logistics transportation.
According to officials from Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL), 8,600 workers, or 38.7 percent of 20,400 employees on its payroll, joined the strike as of Saturday - an increase of 2,000 from Tuesday.
Cabin crews led the strike as 87 percent out of 1,500 workers refused to work. About 56 percent of locomotive engineers were also participating. .
More than 6,500 unionized workers of KORAIL walked away from their jobs a week ago to protest the company’s decision to set up a subsidiary to run part of its KTX operations. The new service will run from Suseo, southern Seoul, to the southeastern port city of Busan, starting in 2016.
KORAIL said it will reduce the number of KTX high-speed trains and subway services around the metropolitan area.
“Reduction of the KTX service is inevitable to prevent accidents as substitute workers and KTX engineers are being exhausted,” a KORAIL official said.
KORAIL CEO Choi Yeon-hye called a press conference in the afternoon, calling the strike “illegal” and urging the workers to report to work or face punishment.
Daily KTX services will be reduced by 10 to 12 percent starting Tuesday and the operation of the slower Mugunghwa trains will also be affected, KORAIL said. The number of subway services in Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi Province will also be brought down by an average of 8.4 percent on weekdays, it added.
As the strike continued, 15 minor accidents occurred over the past week, raising worries over the safety of passengers.
Choi Eun-cheol, a spokesman of the KORAIL trade union, said at a Sunday press conference, “One subway connecting Seoul to Incheon passed Bupyeong Station without making a stop. Another subway opened the opposite side doors in the Jongno 3-ga Station.”
Despite increasing concerns over safety, there has been no sign of compromise between management and the union.
KORAIL workers have criticized the planned establishment of the affiliate, claiming that it is the first step toward privatizing the state-run company, which they say could result in mass layoffs and fare hikes.
The company has denied the claim, saying KORAIL will own a 41 percent stake in the affiliate and other state-run investors, including the National Pension Service, will purchase the remaining 59 percent, ruling out the possibility that private firms will be allowed to buy stakes in it.
