Seoul bus-strike call

SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Yonhap) -- Unionized workers of Seoul's intracity buses on Friday voted to go on strike next week as talks over basic pay and hourly wages have shown little signs of progress.

The intracity bus union said 87.94 percent of its 16,089 workers voted for the planned strike that was scheduled for next Wednesday.

Unless a deal is reached during a second labor dispute mediation session next Tuesday, the union will walk out as scheduled.

At the center of the dispute is how to calculate so-called "ordinary" wages.

The union has requested bus companies to calculate "ordinary" wages based on 176 work hours and increase hourly wages by 7.85 percent.

Generally, increases in "ordinary" wages translate into higher amounts of various allowances for employees.

(END)

[Copyright ⓒ K-VIBE. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction and redistribution are prohibited.]