Gunpo mayor steps in over poor meals for bus workers

Gunpo Mayor Han Dae-hee said the meals and working conditions of transit workers are "a core issue directly tied not only to the health of individual workers but also to the safety and reliability of public transportation services provided to citizens."

Gunpo has launched a direct review of meal conditions for transit workers in the city and begun efforts to improve their working environment, following a recent controversy over substandard meals at bus companies. The city said the issue is directly linked to both worker health and the stability of public transit services for residents.

The city said it conducted a first round of on-site inspections Tuesday, targeting city bus and community bus operators in the area. Inspectors focused on each company's meal arrangements, per-meal costs, menu composition, food quality and the concerns of transit workers.

The inspections found that meal arrangements varied widely across companies — some used outside restaurants, others provided meal allowances, dosirak (packed meals), or operated their own in-house cafeterias. The city noted that some media reports differed from what inspectors actually found on the ground, but said a single round of checks was not sufficient to assess overall meal quality and that monitoring would continue.

To that end, the city met with the heads of the bus companies Wednesday to discuss concrete steps to improve meal quality, including switching food suppliers, consolidating depot operations and adjusting per-meal costs.

As a short-term measure, workers at the Bugok depot will be directed to use the on-site cafeteria there, while the city is in talks with operators to secure a separate meal facility for workers at the freight terminal.