The federation of bus labor unions in the province surrounding Seoul plans to launch a walkout at 4 a.m. Wednesday if it fails to reach an agreement with the bus management association.
The two sides began negotiations over wages and other conditions in the afternoon.
The union represents 16,000 drivers across 45 companies in 31 cities and counties. If they proceed with the strike, it would affect around 9,300 buses, about 90 percent of the total in the province.
The unions are demanding a 12.32 percent wage increase for buses operating under the semi-public system and a 21.86 percent increase for privately operated routes.
They claim that bus drivers in Gyeonggi earn between 700,000 won ($521.9) and 1 million won less than their counterparts in Seoul.
The employer organization refused to agree to wage increases exceeding 4.48 percent for public-private partnership routes and 5 percent for privately operated routes, citing financial constraints.
The union is also demanding the removal of a clause that allows a grace period of up to 6 months before switching to a two-shift system, which employers have refused to accept.
The provincial government plans to establish an emergency transportation response center and implement a 24-hour emergency duty system.
It will deploy 422 charter buses in key locations and increase the operations of town buses, subways, and taxis, officials said.
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