Conflict between the nation’s taxi and bus operators is intensifying over a controversial bill aimed at redefining taxis as mass transit.

As the ruling and opposition parties agreed on Thursday to postpone the bill from a plenary session for final approval, taxi drivers said they will stage a massive strike during the first week of December. About 250,000 taxis will gather in front of the National Assembly and launch a mass rally to press lawmakers to pass the bill, according to four major taxi labor unions.

“Even though the taxi industry is facing a (financial) crisis, the government has been isolating taxis from its transport policies, forcing (us) to abandon our public role,” the unions said. “The planned strike is inevitable,” they added.

The plan came a day after bus operators halted operations of more than 50,000 buses for two hours early Thursday morning in protest against the bill. Bus services went back to normal after the brief protest. No major disruptions were reported.

The bill, supported by both sides of the Assembly, intends to recognize taxis as public transportation, like buses and the subway, making them eligible for state subsidies.

Taxi drivers, complaining that they are increasingly squeezed by low fares and high fuel prices, have long been lobbying for the bill’s passage.

Bus firms, however, fear that if it is passed, it would put bus operators, already struggling with mounting losses and what they claim to be insufficient state subsidies, in the position of having to compete with taxies for government support.

The deepening strife between taxi and bus operators is likely to continue and cause public inconvenience for the next two months.

The rival parties won’t be able to pass the bill this month as its regular session closes on Saturday. They said the parliament would open a provisional session next month to pass the bill, if the government fails to include the demand by the taxi industry by then. By postponing the bill on Thursday, both ruling and opposition parties urged the Ministry of Transport to come up with better ideas to support taxi companies. But the government is finding it difficult to increase financial benefits to taxi drivers because of a lack of resources.

“We’re in an awkward position because we have limited budget but are getting many requests for state support. (We are) discussing ways to support the taxi (industry) but it is not easy to have an answer for that because the issue is involved with many ministries and offices,” an official was quoted as saying by Yonhap News Agency.

Some observers say the government has been pushing bus operators to take action to stop the parliamentary move to support the taxi industry.

Bus operators also warned that they will stage another strike if the bill is delivered to the plenary session.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)