Sogongyeon Union Opposes Chairman Bae Dong-wook's Organizational Restructuring Plan... Announces General Strike

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] Secretariat staff of the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise (KFME) are opposing Chairman Bae Dong-wook’s organizational restructuring plan, adopting a stance of ‘unacceptability.’ They are showing signs of being willing to go as far as a general strike, escalating the level of conflict.

According to the KFME on the 11th, out of 28 secretariat staff members, excluding managerial and probationary employees, 18 signed and submitted a ‘Statement of Non-Acceptance of Organizational Restructuring’ to the management on the 7th, criticizing the restructuring plan implemented that day as a ‘unilateral plan with no reflection of labor-management consultations.’

In this regard, Jang Gi-su, chairman of the KFME labor union, stated, “Chairman Bae is currently under police investigation for charges including breach of trust, embezzlement, and forgery and alteration of official documents, and he is the very person who has brought the KFME’s reputation to rock bottom.” He added, “Having been effectively dismissed after receiving a stern warning from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Chairman Bae is once again engaging in abnormal activities through ‘tricks.’”

He continued, “The staff attempted to negotiate the restructuring plan for the normal operation of the secretariat, but Chairman Bae ignored the employees’ opinions and pushed the restructuring unilaterally without even going through the approval process. He demoted an employee who was performing duties as a director to a team member due to union activities, transferred the union chairman to a managerial position, and dismantled the public relations team, completely disregarding the existing duties of the employees. This is a personnel move aimed at union dissolution and organizational control.”

He further stated, “The submission of this statement confirms that the majority of employees oppose the current restructuring plan. The employees will continue to work under the previous organizational structure as of before the 7th, and if Chairman Bae’s side unilaterally attempts the restructuring and disadvantages those who submitted the statement, they will risk everything and launch a resistance struggle,” warning of future collective actions such as a general strike.

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