Railway workers here in Korea have started a 72-hour strike demanding better pay and working conditions.<br />The country's railway operator KORAIL says it's doing all it can to minimize passengers' inconvenience.<br />Kim Jae-hee has the details.<br />The Korean Railway Workers' Union began a 72 hour strike at 9 AM, local time on Friday.<br />Given that the industrial action will continue until Monday morning, KORAIL has enforced emergency transportation backup plans to reduce disruptions for commuters and to ensure safety.<br />In preparation for the strike, KORAIL says it has been operating a 24 hour emergency transportation headquarters since Monday.<br />During peak commute hours, KORAIL will deploy substitute workers and military personnel to ensure trains in the capital area run as smoothly as possible.<br />It aims to ensure train operations in Seoul remain over 80 percent of usual levels to minimize inconvenience.<br />The walkout is expected to cut manpower to around 60 percent of normal levels, even with the injection of substitute workers.<br />During the strike, the operation rate of subways in Seoul during off-peak hours is projected to be about 88 percent of usual levels.<br />High-speed inter-city KTX services are expected be running at some 72 percent.<br />The slower Saemaeul and Mugunghwa passenger train services will run around 62 percent and 67 percent of normal levels, respectively.<br />KORAIL is updating information about train operations during the strike period on its official website and smartphone app.<br />Passengers will not be able to book tickets on trains that have been canceled as a result of the strike and messages are being sent to customers who have already made reservations on those trains.<br />Affected customers will get a full refund on the price of their train ticket.<br />The union and KORAIL have held twelve rounds of talks since May, but couldn't narrow their differences.<br />The union is demanding higher pay for KORAIL workers, the hiring of more workers and for safety-related staff to be more thoroughly trained.<br />The union says it will launch another strike in November if their demands are not met.<br />This is the first time in three years the Korean Railway Workers' Union has launched a strike.<br />There was transport chaos in South Korea in late 2016 when they walked off the job for 74 days.<br />Kim Jae-hee, Arirang News.<br />
