Taxi driver protests for 100 days for labor rights

Taxi driver Ko Young-ki has been staging a protest atop a communication tower for 100 days, demanding that taxi drivers be excluded from the deemed working hours system. Ko, a branch head for the Daerim Transportation branch of the Jeonbuk branch of the National Transport Workers' Union, began his protest on March 30, climbing a 20-meter tower in front of the regional office of lawmaker Maeng Sung-kyu, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea and former chairman of the National Assembly's Land, Infrastructure and Transport Committee. He opposes a revised Taxi Development Act that he believes would delay the nationwide implementation of the taxi monthly wage system and allow companies and workers to exclude up to 40% of drivers from the system.

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Since the introduction of the taxi monthly wage system, I have come to see passengers not as money, but as people.

Ko argues that the taxi monthly wage system, which is based on a 40-hour work week, offers benefits to all parties involved. "Since the introduction of the taxi monthly wage system, I have come to see passengers not as money, but as people," he stated in a recent phone call. He explained that under the previous 'snap-on' system, drivers were pressured to drive recklessly to meet daily quotas, leading to speeding and running red lights. The monthly wage system, however, allows drivers to avoid such dangerous practices, enhancing safety for both drivers and passengers. He also noted that companies benefit from reduced insurance premiums due to fewer accidents.

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Under the snap-on system, drivers were pressured to drive recklessly to meet daily quotas, leading to speeding and running red lights.

Despite the passage of the revised Taxi Development Act in May, Ko has remained on the tower. His current demand focuses on amending the enforcement decree of the Labor Standards Act. Taxi companies currently apply the deemed working hours system, which presumes workers have completed their standard hours when they are unable to calculate exact working hours due to business trips or other reasons. Ko contends that this system is inappropriate for taxi drivers, whose working hours and routes are precisely tracked by meters and other devices.

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The Labor Standards Act stipulates that the enforcement decree should specify details regarding the deemed working hours system, but there are no such provisions in the decree.

"The Labor Standards Act stipulates that the enforcement decree should specify details regarding the deemed working hours system, but there are no such provisions in the decree," Ko explained. He believes that amending the decree to exclude taxi drivers from this system would effectively realize the benefits of the taxi monthly wage system. He hopes that all taxi drivers will experience the positive changes he has encountered.

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Amending the decree to exclude taxi drivers from this system would effectively realize the benefits of the taxi monthly wage system.