Financial Union Rushes to Encourage Strike... "Kakao Gets 15%, We Get 1.4%"

Financial Union Encourages Participation in Strikes on May 5, 6, and 8
Union: "After Tax Cuts for the Rich, We're Blamed for Inflation"
Concerns Over Low Strike Participation... "Protest Is a Legitimate Right"
Press Conference Near Bank Federation at 2 PM on the Same Day

In September 2016, members of the National Financial Industry Labor Union (Financial Labor Union) staged a general strike at Sangam World Cup Stadium in Mapo-gu, Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporters Seungseop Song, Minwoo Lee] The National Financial Industry Labor Union has begun persuading its internal union members to participate in the upcoming general strike. This appears to be an effort to boost the momentum of the struggle and increase participation rates amid expectations of low turnout.

According to the financial sector on the 14th, the National Financial Union sent a newsletter titled “Kakao 15%, but us only 1.4%?” to its members on the 8th. The core message is that, according to the Bank of Korea’s forecast, the inflation rate reached 5.2%, and if the wage increase rate of 1.4% demanded by the employers is accepted, real wages will decrease by 3.8%.

The Financial Union holds the position that despite the banks’ solid performance, they cannot accept a wage increase rate that falls short of the inflation rate. They argue that banks have posted profits exceeding 10 trillion won for five consecutive years and that the general banks’ net profit growth rate in the first half of this year surpassed 10% compared to the same period last year, indicating sufficient capacity. They also emphasized that when comparing productivity indicators of industries such as electricity and information and communications, the financial industry’s productivity is significantly higher relative to labor costs than other industries.

In this year’s wage and collective bargaining negotiations with management, the Financial Union is demanding a 6.1% wage increase, a 36-hour workweek (4.5-day workweek), extension of retirement age, and improvements to the wage peak system. The management has proposed a 1.4% wage increase, showing a large gap in views. Accordingly, the Financial Union plans to hold a general strike on the 16th. This is the first general strike in six years since the 2016 strike triggered by the performance-based pay system under the Park Geun-hye administration.

The union also included evaluations of statements from previous and current administrations. Citing former President Moon Jae-in, the union stated, “Our financial workers worked on the front lines supporting small business owners and SMEs to overcome the COVID-19 financial crisis,” and questioned, “After working so hard, does management raise wages by only 1.4% because they claim they have no money?” The quote cited by the union is from Moon’s statement on April 6 at the Bankers Association building in Jung-gu, Seoul, where he described “finance as the medical staff on the front lines saving companies and small business owners.”

The union criticized statements by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho. In June, Minister Choo requested the business community to “refrain from wage increases.” The union pointed out, “Are we supposed to bear responsibility for inflation while large-scale tax cuts for the wealthy, such as corporate tax and comprehensive real estate tax reductions, benefit only a few?” and questioned, “Then do other companies also raise wages minimally?” They also publicly compared this year’s wage increase rates of other companies such as Kakao (15%), Naver (10%), and LG Group (9.24%).

Concerns Over Low Strike Participation... “Struggling Is a Natural Right”

The union’s distribution of newsletters a week before the strike reflects concerns about low participation rates. Although the strike vote received overwhelming support with a 93.4% approval rate, it is uncertain how many frontline employees, who make up a significant portion of union members at commercial banks, will actually participate. Given the public’s critical view amid rising loan interest rates and performance bonuses reaching 300%, young employees are likely to refrain from joining the strike. Major banks estimate that about 1% of union members will participate in the strike.

On the 5th, the union shared a message encouraging the strike titled “The 9/16 General Strike Is a Matter of Protecting Our Right to Survival and Financial Publicness,” and the next day sent a newsletter titled “IF (If) You Work More Without Compensation.” In the newsletter on the 8th, they stated, “It is a natural right for any worker to fight for their wages and working conditions,” and proposed, “Let us boldly demand our rights from employers who only watch the government and shareholders.”

There is also a view that the union’s press conference held two days before the general strike was intended to address these concerns. The purpose is to boost morale and encourage members’ participation just before the strike. The Financial Union plans to hold a press conference at 2 p.m. near the Bankers Association in Jung-gu, Seoul. At this event, they will officially reaffirm the general strike and reiterate their demands, including stopping branch closures, maintaining appropriate staffing, abolishing government-controlled finance, and wage increases.

Meanwhile, concerns have been raised that the general strike, scheduled for the day after the government’s launch of the Safe Conversion Loan application, could increase inconvenience for financial consumers. The Safe Conversion Loan is a product that converts variable and mixed-rate mortgage loans obtained from the first and second financial sectors into long-term, fixed-rate policy mortgages provided by the Korea Housing Finance Corporation. Applications can be made starting from the 15th through six major commercial banks?KB Kookmin, Shinhan, Hana, Woori, NH Nonghyup, IBK Industrial Bank?and the Housing Finance Corporation.

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