KB workers to strike 1st time in 19 years

A banner announcing unionized workers' general strike is put up at the KB Kookmin Bank's head branch on Yeouido, Seoul, Dec. 28. Of the bank's 11,990 unionized workers, 11,511 voted for a strike schedule on Jan. 8. / Yonhap

By Jhoo Dong-chan

KB Kookmin Bank and its unionized workers are still in a stalemate failing to narrow gaps about various issues, including the bank's wage peak system and incentives. Unionized workers said they will stage a general strike on Jan. 8 if management does not comply with their demands.

If they do, it will be the bank's first general strike in 19 years.

According to KB Kookmin Bank, Friday, Vice CEO Kim Nam-il urged workers not to stage a rally during the three-minute-long in-house broadcasting Thursday. Along with Kim, 10 bank executives also joined the in-house broadcasting.

“We should not demolish our position of the nation's lead bank by ourselves. Thirty million KB Kookmin Bank customers are at stake here,” Kim said during the broadcasting.

“General strike is a must not. Let's set distrust aside. Come to the table and discuss further to narrow our differences.”

Management also posted a Q&A banner regarding the wage negotiation at the bank's intranet. Executives are also meeting each employee to explain the bank's position.

KB Kookmin Bank labor union head Park Hong-bae, however, denounced management's approach as “appealing only to workers' emotions but neglecting the real issues.”

KB Kookmin Bank CEO Hur Yin and Park met each other for two hours after New Year's Day, but failed to establish any middle ground. Talks have since halted.

“We believe there is still room to reach a settlement,” said a KB Kookmin Bank official. “We can't reveal details about the negotiation, but KB Kookmin Bank and workers will continue the negotiation over the weekend.”

The labor union and management have failed to reach an agreement on key issues, including rules on the amount of bonuses and the introduction of a wage peak system. The two sides have held negotiations 12 times since Sept. 18, but failed to reach an agreement despite arbitration attempts by the National Labor Relations Commission.

For incentives, the union is demanding the bank pay 300 percent of normal wages, whereas management insists a payment adjustment is needed because they failed to meet its management goal this year.

Management proposed to define the amount of bonuses in tandem with the bank's return on equity to prevent a conflict from the lack of standards for incentives, but the union refused the proposal.