"Milk Price Uncertainty" "Please Prevent Closure"…TBS Employees Submit Petition

Risk of Job Loss Due to Seoul City Budget Support Cancellation
Petition Signed by 397 Employees and Families Delivered to Seoul City

"If the company disappears right now, the reality is that we first have to think about where to cover the apartment installment payments and basic living expenses." (TBS Strategic Planning Office, Employee ○○○)

"I am planning to get married with my girlfriend, but if my workplace disappears, I won't even be able to make any plans." (Radio Production Headquarters, Employee ○○○)

As Seoul City's budget support is expected to be cut off starting this June, TBS employees and their families, who are facing financial difficulties, have submitted a petition to the Seoul City government pleading, "Please do not let the station close."

TBS members delivering a petition to Seoul City [Photo by TBS]

On the 15th, TBS announced, "The two major labor unions within the company, the TBS Labor Union and the National Union of Mediaworkers TBS Branch, delivered a petition signed by 397 employees and their families on the 14th to Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Seoul City Council Chairman Kim Hyun-gi." TBS explained that all employees, regardless of union affiliation, wrote this appeal, and family members also voluntarily participated, expressing their desperate plea for the company's survival.

The petition included appeals from employees who are soon-to-be parents and those about to get married, expressing feelings of helplessness and fear in the face of the risk of unemployment. There was also a story of an employee who is struggling with whether to give up the dream of owning a home as they prepare for an apartment pre-sale. One employee appealed, "Last summer, my husband was diagnosed with a heart disease and had to undergo surgery lasting over nine hours," adding, "Now, I have become the head of the household. My salary, which is just over 2 million won, is the only income for our two-person family."

A person who identified herself as the wife of a TV Production Headquarters employee wrote in the petition, "Since the ordinance to cut off Seoul City's support was passed, I have been suffering from sleep disorders due to anxiety," and added, "I feel like I am standing on the edge of a cliff. Looking at my middle school-aged son and daughter, I am at a loss as to how to endure moving forward."

In November 2022, the Seoul City Council passed an ordinance to eliminate Seoul City's budget support for TBS starting January of this year. At the end of last year, an amendment was passed to postpone the enforcement of the ordinance until June, allowing support until May 31. If Seoul City's support is cut off after that, TBS is expected to face the reality of station closure and is preparing self-help measures such as implementing voluntary retirement and restructuring, as well as forming an emergency task force (TF) for management efficiency. Currently, TBS has only planned its business operations through May of this year, when Seoul City funding is still provided, and its operational plans thereafter remain uncertain.

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