Unionized Seoul Metro workers hold a mass opening ceremony for the strike to the west of Seoul City Hall in central Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Lee Hae-rin

Unionized workers of Seoul Metro, which operates the capital's subway lines 1 through 8, went on strike, Wednesday, protesting the state-run company's plan to downsize the workforce which they say endangers both public and workers' safety.

Over 5,000 union members gathered near Seoul City Hall at around 11 a.m. and held a mass rally to mark the opening of the collective action. It is the union's first strike in six years since September 2016.

Myung Soon-pil, the head of the union, said on stage that the capital's subway system is "in a state of crisis" due to the company's downsizing of its workforce by at least 1,500 personnel over the past six years along with the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Our fight is not a political one, but one that will prevent any situation in which our colleagues, families and friends could die in subways," he said. Seoul Metro's two unions consist of some 13,000 employees, about 80 percent of the firm's workforce. The unions have been objecting to the metro operator's plan to further downsize its labor force by more than 1,500 employees, which is about 10 percent of the total, by 2026.

Earlier on Wednesday, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon criticized the Seoul Metro workers and called their strike "political."

"The ostensible reason for the strike is calling for the withdrawal of the company's restructuring and innovation plan. But beneath the surface, we believe it (the strike) is related to the background of the cargo truckers' strike," the mayor said during a meeting with the press at City Hall.

The unions kicked off the strike at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, after eight hours of negotiations with the company ended without a breakthrough on Tuesday night.

Citing the financial crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Seoul Metro proposed the restructuring plan during the negotiations Tuesday to downsize its workforce by more than 1,500 by 2026. The unions rejected the proposal, arguing that the subway operator should not shift responsibility for the financial crisis to its workers and that the proposal goes against their previous agreement in May to boost staffing after lifting social distancing regulations and resuming nighttime subway services.

Passengers move to board a subway train at Seoul's Sindorim Station during morning rush hour amid the strike by the Seoul Metro workers' unions, Wednesday. Newsis

The strike resulted in a few subway disruptions during Wednesday morning rush hour, as the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Seoul Metro mobilized some 13,000 replacement workers to normalize subway operations. The mobilized workforce was around 83 percent of the usual manpower in operation and included retired and non-unionized workers as well as employees from subcontractors.

However, with the limited replacement workforce, the train operation rates will go down to 72.7 percent of the usual level during the daytime and remain around 85.7 percent of the normal level during the evening rush hour period from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The city government plans to fully operate its metro system, even if the strike continues for more than eight days, and increase bus operations during morning and evening rush hours.

The unions and Seoul Metro held another round of negotiations at the firm's headquarters in Seongdong District at 8 p.m. Wednesday. Seoul Metro said it will propose an alternative plan as the talks continued as of 10 p.m., Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the upcoming strike by the Korea Railroad Corp. (KORAIL) starting Friday is expected to create additional traffic disruptions. The company operates 80 percent of Seoul Metro Line 1, 25 percent of Line 3 and 30 percent of Line 4.