The Korea Railway Workers' Union yesterday staged a 24-hour strike to protest the Korea Railroad Corporation's "insincere" labor negotiations.

Traffic, which was hardly affected during the morning rush hour, was slightly worse in the evening, when workers headed home.

Although the strike officially started at midnight yesterday, commuter subways and trains in the 7-9 a.m. time operated as normal, said KORAIL officials.

The average train operation rate as of yesterday morning was 92.8 percent, with 100 percent for othe fficials said.

Apart from the 2,300 union members who took part in the temporary sit-in, the rest were left to attend to railway maintenance, said the union.

Union officials vowed to minimize the commuters' inconvenience by avoiding the rush hours in staging their strike.

In addition to the union's efforts, KORAIL brought in emergency trains and about 700 back-up staff, according to the corporation.

The Saemaeul and Mugunghwa trains faced some disruption, with operation rates of 90 percent and 85.7 percent, respectively.

However, as the operation rate dropped to 80 percent after the morning rush hours, there were delays in the evening rush hour.

The union is to resume normal operations starting today.

(tellme@heraldm.com)

By Bae Hyun-jung

2009.09.09