Park Hong-bae, Chairman of the Financial Labor Union, "The Yoon Government's First Prey is Finance... We Will Fight for Our Legitimate Rights"

Members of the National Financial Industry Labor Union (Financial Union) held a general strike rally on the 16th at Sejong-daero, Gwanghwamun, Seoul. The Financial Union, including the unions of commercial banks and the Korea Development Bank (KDB), a policy bank, went on strike for the first time in six years since September 2016. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Park Hong-bae, chairman of the National Financial Industry Labor Union, raised his voice on the 16th, saying, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration has chosen finance as its first target," and "We must fight to secure our rightful rights against those who only demand sacrifices from workers through real wage cuts."

The Financial Union launched a full-scale strike on the same day. This is the first strike by the Financial Union in six years since September 2016. The Financial Union took to the streets to demand a 5.2% wage increase and a reduction in working hours (pilot operation of a 4.5-day workweek). On the morning of the same day, the Financial Union held a rally near Sejong-daero Intersection in Gwanghwamun, Seoul, with about 30,000 participants (estimated by the organizers), and launched a general strike struggle.

Chairman Park criticized, "(The Yoon administration) is ordering the relocation of national policy institutions to local areas for balanced development of public institutions, while the Ministry of Economy and Finance is aiming its guns at public institution workers, claiming that welfare in public institutions is excessive," and added, "They are trying to transfer the prime assets of national policy banks, the foundation of policy finance, to commercial banks and financial holding companies, causing a drain of national wealth. This is a revival of government-controlled finance."

He continued, "The lawful struggle of 100,000 financial workers is a fight for people, a strike to protect the financial public nature of financial workers, and a fair and just strike," and insisted, "We must defend the public nature of finance against the Yoon administration that privatizes public institutions and tramples on workers, and employers who try to reduce manpower."

He also said, "We must strike a heavy blow to the Ministry of Economy and Finance's 'Mofia' faction and the financial holding companies that blindly follow them," and "We must fight to secure our rightful rights against those who only demand sacrifices from workers through real wage cuts."

The Financial Union is demanding ▲ cessation of branch closures ▲ maintenance of adequate staffing ▲ abolition of the wage peak system ▲ reduction of working hours ▲ restriction of dismissal reasons ▲ scrapping of public institution innovation plans ▲ cancellation of the relocation of national policy banks to local areas.

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