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Unionized railway workers again pause strike plan after temporary deal reached

Published: 23 Dec. 2025, 08:50

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

A freight train moves on a rail near Obong Station in Uiwang, Gyeonggi, on Dec. 22. [YONHAP]

Unionized railway workers once again put their strike plans on hold after the union and the government reached a temporary deal on bonus payments, union sources said Tuesday.

The Korean Railway Workers’ Union had been set to begin a general strike at 9 a.m. Tuesday, but shelved the plan after the provisional deal was reached overnight.

Trains were running normally Tuesday, the state railway operator said.

Union sources said the strike was “postponed” and that they would wait for talks to be finalized at the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s Ownership Steering Committee, scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Under the proposal, the government offered a phased plan to raise performance bonus payments, paying 90 percent of base salary next year and increasing the rate to 100 percent in 2027, according to union sources.

The union had called for performance bonuses to be set at 100 percent of base pay to match other public institutions, up from the current 80 percent level that has remained in place since 2011.

Rail services in the greater Seoul area that had been scheduled to run at reduced levels due to the strike — including Seoul subway lines 1, 3 and 4, the Suin–Bundang Line, the Gyeongui–Jungang Line and the Gyeonggang Line — will operate normally until 2 p.m.

Subway services in Busan, Daegu and across the Gyeongsang provinces, as well as train services including KTX high-speed trains, as well as Saemaeul and Mugunghwa trains, will also operate normally until 2 p.m.

Korail is a government-owned company with commercial operations running under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Its bonus pay rates are decided by the Finance Ministry's Ownership Steering Committee.

BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [[email protected]]