Incheon: Incheon International Airport, South Korea’s main gateway, is expected to experience aggravated passenger congestion during the upcoming extended Chuseok holiday, as the union of airport security screening workers decided Thursday not to work overtime during the holiday, demanding improved working conditions and an increase in manpower.

According to Yonhap News Agency, about 2.45 million people are expected to use the Incheon airport, located about 50 kilometers west of Seoul, during this year’s unusually long Chuseok holiday that lasts seven days starting Friday, as reported by Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC). The average daily passenger count will be 223,000, marking an increase of 11.5 percent compared with last year’s Chuseok holiday.

The union of airport security screening workers, who belong to Incheon International Airport Security, an affiliate of IIAC, announced that they have scrapped a plan to deploy additional personnel to ease congestion during the holiday period and decided to work at their usual level. Although airport security screening workers are prohibited from participating in strikes under the current law, they have resolved not to work overtime until the Oct. 11-12 weekend, effectively creating a strike effect. Initially, they had planned to deploy 40 to 50 additional workers per day.

Meanwhile, unionized workers at 15 airports nationwide, including Incheon airport, have been staging indefinite strikes for the second consecutive day. About 2,000 workers responsible for terminal cleaning and operations, traffic management, firefighting, and mechanical facility management walked out, with some 1,000 workers participating in a rally outside Incheon airport’s Terminal 1, advocating for better working conditions and increased staffing.

IIAC and Korea Airports Corp. have stated that there has been no major disruption to passenger check-in or aircraft operations so far.