KORAIL-UNION REACH TENTATIVE AGREEMENT

[Anchor Lead]

The KORAIL management and union reached a tentative agreement on key issues such as wage and collective bargaining terms. As a result, the workers' union called off the strike planned for Friday.

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The KORAIL management and union resumed talks at around midnight after they had stopped the negotiation only 20 minutes into the meeting. Around 4:40 a.m. Friday, four hours since talks resumed, they reached tentative agreement on some key issues such as wage and collective bargaining terms. The two sides will find phased solutions to increased wages over the next three years. The court ruled that KORAIL pay their workers ordinary wages. The employer and employees presented their plans to improve the promotion system while also increasing staffing and upgrading the work environment at Obong Station where a fatal accident had occurred.

[Soundbite] Kim Seon-wuk(Policy Officer, KORAIL Union) : "They promised to provide more workers so that three people can work together as a team at Obong Station."

However, the workers' union reported that they couldn't agree on the plan to cut 1,200 KORAIL workers, leaving it to be discussed later. KORAIL is considering massive layoffs as part of public institution reform. The KORAIL union plans to open a general assembly of its members and get confirmation on the negotiation results. As the two sides came to agree on key issues, the KORAIL workers' union called of the strike planned for Friday. As a result, metropolitan subway lines one, three and four are operating normally. The operation of these three lines was to be curtailed in case of a strike. KTX and other trains are also running as scheduled.