Internal feud at Kookmin Bank deepening
The feud between KB Kookmin Bank workers and management is getting extreme. Representatives of the two sides continued talks to settle labor issues even after a Jan. 8 one-day strike, but have yet to reach an agreement.
The situation, however, is now becoming worse after the union lodged a complaint against management Wednesday for breaching collective bargaining. It plans another strike in the near future.
Management already yielded to the union’s demand to pay a 300 percent incentive just before the Jan. 8 walkout. The union and management also agreed on a few core issues during Jan. 11 negotiations, including introducing a voluntary retirement program for long-time workers.
They continued the talks on further issues Jan. 13 and 14, but failed to narrow the gap on the introduction timing for the peak wage system that involves a gradual salary reduction for elderly employees, and the pay-band system that caps the wages of employees who fail to attain a promotion within a designated period of time.
Union workers of KB Kookmin Bank said immediately after the Jan. 14 talks that they will also take further actions, including filing a petition with the National Human Rights Commission.
They also said they will stage another strike for three days from Jan. 30 if management does not comply with their remaining demands.
“KB Kookmin Bank will do its best to conclude its talks with workers before they go on strike for three days from Jan. 30,” a KB Kookmin Bank official said.
“The impact will be enormous if they stage a three-day strike just before the Lunar New Year holiday. Labor and management are settling key issues step by step. I believe we will conclude the talks before the holidays.”
According to the union, about 10,000 KB Kookmin workers across the country participated in the one-day rally, Jan. 8. This was two-thirds of the bank’s total union workers.
It was the first strike in 19 years. The bank said it stayed open for business as usual at all 10,057 branches across the country during the Jan. 8 strike but some face-to-face services were limited.
It designated 411 branches as emergency centers where customers could get face-to-face services such as private and corporate loans as well as mortgages. Of the 411 branches, 271 are located in Seoul and the surrounding area.
The bank also formed a taskforce to counter the current situation to monitor its branches nationwide. Customers were exempt from service fees at bank windows and ATMs.
The nation’s largest lender has about 31.1 million customers in Korea.