Home plus hit by major strike

Kim Gi-wan, on the stage, head of the Home plus labor union, speaks to union members during a rally near the MBK Partners’ head office in downtown Seoul, Wednesday. He called on the private equity fund that recently purchased Home plus to promise job security for the employees. / Korea Times photo by Park Si-soo

Unionized workers urge MBK Partners to promise job security

By Park Si-soo

Unionized workers of Home plus staged a strike Wednesday, demanding that MBK Partners guarantee their jobs. MBK is a private equity fund that recently purchased the second-largest discount store chain here.

An estimated 1,500 workers took part in the rally near the MBK head office in downtown Seoul, chanting slogans denouncing the new owner and calling on MBK executives to negotiate with them.

They claimed MBK had ignored their calls for talks on the issue, which MBK claims is not true.

“We have repeatedly called on MBK to promise job security of current workers since MBK struck a deal to buy Home plus,” said Kim Gi-wan, head of the Home plus labor union representing 26,000 workers at some 800 outlets across the country.

“MBK said it would accept our demand. In reality, however, it has refused to sit down with union leaders to have face-to-face negotiations on the matter.”

The union leader said the refusal reflects MBK’s lack of commitment to keep the promise it made.

“If MBK and Home plus management have no intention to settle this through negotiation, we have no other choice but to find a breakthrough with a strike,” the union leader warned.

This strike took place two weeks after unionized workers staged smaller protests at several Home plus outlets early this month, arguing that under MBK’s ownership, scores of employees would be vulnerable to layoffs.

The Seoul-based buyout fund, which purchased Home plus for 7.2 trillion won on Sept. 7 from British retailer Tesco, has said it would guarantee job security of all Home plus employees.

Yet few Home plus workers trust the pledge, citing the business nature of the buyout fund that usually carries out aggressive restructuring of a company it buys to resell it for more than it paid.

MBK on Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment to the job security of all Home plus employees.

“We will not conduct any forced restructuring of existing employees,” the company said. “In addition, we’ve confirmed our commitment several times through letters we sent to the union.”

The company said the acquisition process is still underway and therefore it’s not appropriate at this stage for MBK executives to sit with Home plus union leaders to discuss the issue.

“MBK is the largest shareholder, not manager (of Home plus). Thus the counterpart for the talks should be Home plus management, not us,” it said.

The Home plus union said the strike will continue until it secures a binding solution to the dispute. Home plus said its outlets would maintain normal operation despite the strike because only 10 percent of the employees joined the move.

Home plus has 140 discount malls, 375 supermarkets, 327 convenience stores and dozens of bakeries, logistics centers and other facilities in Korea.

The company’s profitability has declined since 2012. Its operating profit stood at 194.4 billion won last year, down from 330 billion won in 2013.