A local court has rejected Korean Air Lines Co.'s injunction request seeking to prohibit its pilots from taking any labor action, saying there were no procedural problems with the voting process that gave the green light for a strike, company officials said Friday.

The ruling was made by the Seoul Southern District Court on Thursday, apparently throwing weight behind labor unionists currently demanding a salary hike and better working conditions after negotiations broke down in February. 

Both have been at odds over by how much the salary of pilots should be increased. Pilots want a 37 percent hike, while the company proposes a 1.9 percent increase, which it said is on par with the wage growth rate for other non-pilot workers.

In mid-February, a majority of unionized pilots of Korean Air, the country's largest flag carrier, voted "yes" to go on strike.

The company had sought a court injunction, claiming that the vote was "invalid" due to some procedural problems.

The company, in particular, argued that they broke a law by making members of its labor unions use voting papers with different colors in violation of the principle of anonymity in the voting process. Korean Air has two separate unions representing its pilots.

The court said that just using voting papers with different colors does not mean handling voting rights differently, adding that it does not necessarily prove either that the rights of any were restricted or fairness in the voting process was compromised. (Yonhap)