Unionized city bus drivers and their employers are set for last-ditch negotiations over raises ahead of plans to stage a general strike involving more than 40-thousand drivers nationwide starting Tuesday.

According to the Korean Automobile and Transport Workers' Federation on Monday, member unions from nine regions, including Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, were each set to return for a final negotiation with their employer.

More than 90 percent of union members from eleven major cities and provinces that took part in last week's vote had approved the walkout plan.

If the negotiations fail, eight of the nine unions will launch their strikes on Tuesday. The union in Daegu plans to begin its walkout on Wednesday.

Around 45-thousand bus drivers are expected to take part in the strike, affecting 20-thousand buses. In Seoul, over seven-thousand city buses, accounting for 98 percent, are union affiliated.

The unions are demanding pay hikes of some eight percent as well as job stability, after bus operators refused to increase wages for a second consecutive year amid decreased ridership during the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

In the case of a walkout, local governments plan to increase subway and taxi operations, deploy chartered buses, and mobilize non-unionized drivers to minimize public inconvenience.