Citibank Union Raises Level of Struggle... Strike Action Approved with 99% Support

Strike action vote turnout 93.2%, approval rate 99.14%
Union "We will put a brake on the rushed sale process"

On the 8th, members of the Financial Union Korea Citibank Branch were holding a "Rally for Victory in Collective Wage Struggle and Fight to Protect the Right to Livelihood" at the Korea Citibank headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Citibank Union

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] The Citibank labor union is expected to launch a large-scale strike. The union's level of protest, which has been conducting an overnight sit-in at the bank president's office for a week, is likely to intensify further.

On the 11th, the Korea Citibank branch of the National Financial Industry Labor Union announced that the strike motion put to a vote the previous day was passed with a turnout of 93.2% and an approval rate of 99.14%.

The Citibank union stated, "We have secured the legal right to strike," and explained, "80% of the total 3,300 full-time employees are union members, and the Democratic branch, a multiple union, has also agreed to cooperate, so our influence will be significant."

Currently, Korea Citibank is pursuing the sale of its domestic consumer finance division. The union demands that employment stability measures be established. They strongly oppose partial sales and phased shutdown plans.

The union said, "Since the bank's business transfer and closure require approval externally, we will inform related organizations such as the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, the National Assembly, the Financial Services Commission, and the Job Committee that this consumer finance withdrawal is neither urgent nor unavoidable," adding, "We will urge the government to make statements and respond to halt the hasty sale process."

They also expressed, "Since this is a fight against Citigroup, we plan to take the struggle overseas as well," stating, "We will send a warning letter to Jane Fraser, CEO of the New York headquarters, bombard key executives in New York with emails, and produce videos for overseas audiences to raise awareness of the situation in Korea."

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