Last minute negotiations between labor and management on the Busan subway...Attention on tomorrow's strike.

[Anchor]
Labor and management are in final negotiations with the Busan subway union foreshadowing a general strike from tomorrow.

If the negotiations break down, Busan citizens are expected to experience inconvenience from the first round tomorrow, and the results of the negotiations are expected to come out late tonight.

The car is a journalist.

[Reporter]
The Busan Metro union and the Busan Transportation Corporation, the operator of the subway, sat in the final negotiation table.

If we fail to make a negotiation proposal here, the union will go on a general strike tomorrow.

[Choi Jeong-sik / Chairman of the Busan Subway Union: We will say that we have no choice but to use the right to dispute when there is no agreement]

[Lee Byung-jin / President of Busan Transportation Corporation: Citizens are very worried, and we will do our best to negotiate a good and smooth agreement today.]

The issue is wage increases and staffing.

The union calls for a 4.8% pay rise and 63 more safety personnel.

In response, the management is saying that wages can only be raised by 1.5% due to the fiscal deficit, and that the recruitment of manpower will be decided after organization diagnosis.

There is speculation that the wage increase could be negotiated within the government's guidelines for public institutions of 2.5%, but the recruitment of manpower is unknown.

If no agreement is reached in the final negotiations, the union will go on strike from the first round tomorrow.

It's been five years since the strike in 2019.

Amid the expected inconvenience of citizens, the Busan Metropolitan Government is taking emergency transportation measures in preparation for a strike.By deploying alternative personnel to the

subway, we plan to maintain the usual dispatch interval during rush hour and increase the dispatch to up to 22 minutes during the rest of the time to operate at 50% of the usual level.

However, Line 4, which operates unmanned, can operate normally as usual.

Amid tight labor and management positions, the decision on whether to strike the Busan subway is expected to be made late tonight.

YTN Cha Sang-eun.