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IBK Industrial Bank. (Photo = IBK Industrial Bank) |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Sangjin] The labor union of IBK Industrial Bank announced on the 24th that it will initiate a full-scale strike on the 27th, shutting down operations at all branches.
At a press conference held at the union office in the IBK headquarters in Seoul, the National Financial Industry Union’s IBK branch revealed its plans for the upcoming strike.
Kim Hyung-sun, chairman of the IBK union, stated, “This will be a strike that paralyzes all branches. If the bank and government fail to meet the demands of our public sector workers, we will proceed with second and third strikes to fully disrupt banking operations.”
Approximately 8,000 union members, excluding team leaders and higher-ranking employees, are expected to participate in the strike.
The primary issue behind the strike is the resolution of wage discrimination and unpaid salaries. The union argues that IBK workers earn about 30% less than employees of commercial banks performing the same duties, solely because IBK is a public institution. They also claim that due to the government's cap on total labor costs, overtime allowances amounting to around 6 million KRW per person have not been paid. As of the end of last year, the average salary per employee at IBK was 85 million KRW.
The union emphasized, “Despite achieving record-breaking profits annually, IBK has paid over 1.1 trillion KRW in dividends to the Ministry of Strategy and Finance over the past three years, while awarding zero in special performance bonuses to its employees.”
Additionally, the union pointed out that the bank has been granting vacation time instead of overtime pay due to labor cost restrictions, creating a structure where employees are unable to actually utilize the allocated time off.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim SangJin(letyou@alphabiz.co.kr)
