▲ The Public Transport and Logistics Workers’ Union and the “Hope Taxi Planning Committee: 200 Days of High-Altitude Sit-In to Secure a Full Monthly Salary System for Taxi Drivers!” held a press conference titled “Announcement of the October 14 Hope Taxi Plan” in front of the Blue House fountain on the morning of the 6th.

To mark the 200th day of the high-altitude sit-in by taxi driver Ko Young-ki, who is demanding a fixed monthly salary system, a “Hope Taxi” event will be held, with citizens from across the country taking taxis to gather at the protest site.

The Public Transport and Logistics Workers’ Union and the “Hope Taxi Planning Committee: 200 Days of High-Altitude Sit-In for a Full Monthly Salary System for Taxi Drivers!” held a press conference in front of the Blue House fountain on the morning of the 6th and announced that they will hold a “Hope Taxi” event on the 14th in front of the high-altitude sit-in site at the Gil Hospital intersection in Incheon. Citizens from across the country—including Daejeon, Daegu, North Chungcheong Province, and Busan—are scheduled to board taxis and converge at the sit-in site. Similar to the “Hope Bus” that traveled to Busan in 2011 to demand the reversal of layoffs at Hanjin Heavy Industries, the event aims to convey a message of solidarity to the workers at the high-altitude sit-in by traveling via taxi.

These groups are writing letters to Mr. Ko and sending letters of appeal to the Blue House and the National Assembly. Participants in the “Hope Walkers” march—who began a walk on the 28th of last month to demand a resolution to the Sejong Hotel layoffs—are also joining the “Hope Taxi” campaign.

Mr. Ko has been staging a sit-in on a telecommunications tower in front of the office of Democratic Party of Korea Representative Maeng Seong-gyu since last April, demanding that taxi drivers be exempted from the fixed-salary system and the deemed working hours system. The sit-in will mark its 200th day on the 14th. Taxi drivers argue that, even though their actual working hours can be verified through taxi trip logs, the deemed working hours system continues to be applied, resulting in them being paid less than they deserve for the hours they actually work.

The deemed working hours system is a system used in cases where it is difficult to calculate actual working hours; under this system, a worker is deemed to have worked a set number of hours regardless of the actual time worked. Taxi drivers are demanding that industries where working hours can be measured—such as the taxi industry—be excluded from the deemed working hours system.

Choi Se-ho, head of the Taxi Branch of the Public Transport and Logistics Workers’ Union, said, “Riding the ‘Hope Taxi’ could put pressure on the government and, as a result, help ensure that our comrade Ko Young-gi returns safely to solid ground as soon as possible.” He added, “I hope many people will ride the ‘Hope Taxi’ so that the government hears the taxi workers’ just demand to end unpaid labor.”