SEOUL– Unionized workers at Seoul Metro will go on strike on Wednesday after negotiations with the operator of the Seoul subway system failed to resolve disputes over downsizing, officials said Tuesday.

A group representing two major unions of the capital’s subway system said that final talks fell through earlier in the day.

It marks the first strike by unionized workers at Seoul Metro in lines one to eight since September 2016.

During the talks, the company proposed postponing its downsizing plan of 1,539 workers until 2026 and implementing existing agreements on workforce recruitment within the first half of next year, but the unions decided to reject the offer.

The Seoul metropolitan government plans to introduce replacement workers to minimize possible disruptions to subway operations due to the strike.

Unionized workers of Seoul Metro have been protesting that the company discarded an agreement signed with them in May to hire more subway workers in order to resume late-night subway services suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Seoul Metro has countered it has no plan to cut the workforce in charge of safety maintenance and only plans to outsource peripheral work, such as in-house cafeteria services.

Source: Yonhap News Agency