Banks, unions bicker over new recruit pay

By Kim Jae-won

Bank unions have asked management to raise entry level wages, which were cut 20 percent three years ago due to the global financial crisis.

The union leaders say banks need to normalize the wages to attract talented new employees. Management says that the wages offered were good and ruled out the possibility of a raise any time soon.

Kim Hyung-kwon, deputy leader of Shinhan Bank’s union, said newly hired workers get about 30 million won in annual wages and bonuses.

A union of another lender also said one fourth of new hires did not show up at the lender’s training program.

“We announced a total of 120 new employees last year, but only 90 people came to the training camp and the others went to other firms for better pay,” the union leader said on condition of anonymity.

An official from the lender said that that the current pay was enough, arguing that those who didn’t join would have gone to other firms anyway.

“The average male new hire, who has completed his military service, is paid about 36 million won annually,” Lee Yoo-chul, a Shinhan spokesman said, rejecting the union’s claim.

Lee said the union cherry-picked data to make new employees’ wages look smaller than they are in reality, adding that the union likely used the pay scale for a new female employee, which is the lowest by the bank’s standard.

Rookie employees have little negotiating power so their wages were the first to be cut during the financial crisis. Even the unions pay scant attention to their situation because their priority is naturally more focused on their own wages.

Analysts believe that the unions’ demand for new employees’ wage increases will be taken seriously.

은행과 노조가 신입행원 임금을 놓고 다투다

은행 노조가 금융 위기 때 20% 정도 삭감됐던 신입행원 연봉을 다시 올려 달라고 경영진에 요구했다.

노조 지도자들은 새로운 인재를 영입하기 위해 임금을 정상화시켜야 한다고 주장했다. 반면, 경영진들은 현재의 연봉 수준에 문제가 없으며, 이른 시일 안에 이를 인상할 계획이 없다고 말했다.

신한은행 노동조합 김형권 부위원장은 신입행원들이 보통 임금과 보너스를 합쳐 1년에 3천만원 정도 받고 있다고 전했다.

다른 은행의 한 노조는 신입행원 중 4분의 1 정도가 상대적으로 낮은 임금 때문에 연수에 불참했다고 말했다.

“작년에 총 120명의 신입 직원을 선발했지만, 90명만 연수에 참가했다. 나머지는 더 나은 연봉을 주는 다른 회사로 가버렸다,”고 그 은행의 노조 지도자가 익명을 전제로 말했다.

하지만, 그 은행은 현재 사측이 충분한 임금을 지급하고 있다고 주장했다. 은행 측은 자신들이 더 많은 연봉을 지급했더라도 그 사람들은 다른 회사로 갔을 것이라고 말했다.