Will Hana Bank Union Strike Over High Wages Amid COVID-19 Emergency?

Jungnowi Suspends Mediation of Wage and Collective Bargaining
Union with Right to Strike Heats Up for Walkout

On the 3rd, the main branch of Hana Bank in Jung-gu, Seoul, displayed the brand name "Hana Bank" without "KEB." Hana Bank announced that from this day forward, it will change its brand name from KEB Hana Bank to "Hana Bank" and embark on a new start as the New Hana Bank preparing for the next 10 years. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] The KEB Hana Bank branch of the National Financial Industry Labor Union (Hana Bank Union) is stoking the flames for a strike struggle. This is due to being the only domestic bank that failed to reach an agreement on the ‘2019 wage and collective agreement’ (wages and collective bargaining) with management. The Hana Bank Union has obtained the right to strike following the Central Labor Relations Commission’s suspension of mediation and is now working to persuade union members for the strike. Some are concerned about the worst-case scenario of a bank strike amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the financial sector on the 25th, the Central Labor Relations Commission declared the suspension of mediation for the Hana Bank labor-management wage and collective agreement on the 22nd. The wage and collective agreement broke down after the first integrated union executive team was launched at the end of last year. The Hana Bank integrated union, formed after the 2015 merger with Korea Exchange Bank, initially organized its first executive team with co-chairs from both Korea Exchange Bank and Hana Bank backgrounds. Currently, Chairman Choi Ho-geol from Hana Bank is leading a sole executive team.

Hana Bank is the only major bank that has yet to finalize last year’s wage and collective agreement. Previously, Shinhan, KB Kookmin, Woori, and NH Nonghyup Banks reportedly agreed on a 2% wage increase and paid performance bonuses up to 200%. Since the first representative meeting and negotiation on February 27, the labor and management sides held 16 rounds of negotiations but broke down on the 16th of last month. After applying for mediation with the Central Labor Relations Commission on the 22nd of the same month, four mediation sessions were held until the 22nd but no agreement was reached. The union’s main demands included wage increases and improvements in wage peak payment rates, while the company proposed implementing a flexible work system across the bank and expanding mandatory annual leave usage days.

Both sides are blaming each other for the breakdown in negotiations. The union criticized in a statement, “The bank president never attended a single mediation meeting and repeatedly made the same claims through representatives without authority or responsibility, showing insincerity in mediation.” A Hana Bank official rebutted, “It is not necessary for the president to attend mediation meetings,” adding, “An HR executive attended as a representative and conducted the negotiations.”

On the 3rd, officials were working on promotional wrapping related to the 'Hana Bank' brand name, which removed 'KEB', outside the Hana Bank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. Hana Bank announced that from this day forward, the brand name will change from KEB Hana Bank to 'Hana Bank', marking a fresh start as the new Hana Bank preparing for the next 10 years. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The union plans to engage in industrial action based on the legally obtained right to strike. The union will focus on raising the approval rate in the strike vote by holding regional tour meetings until the 29th. The plan is to increase bargaining power by gaining overwhelming support from union members. However, the union left room for dialogue, stating, “Rather than sticking only to struggle, we will also make efforts to autonomously conclude negotiations without letting go of the thread of dialogue until the end.”

Earlier this year, management changed the brand name from ‘KEB Hana Bank’ to ‘Hana Bank,’ but the union still includes ‘KEB’ in the branch name, saying it is a matter to be decided at the delegates’ meeting. In the financial sector, the prevailing view is that a strike by a bank union receiving high wages during the COVID-19 emergency is unreasonable. According to the bank’s business report, the average annual salary of employees last year reached 101 million KRW.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.