Kyongnam Bank Labor Promises No Strike Before 2010

“The union will not stage any strike before 2010 when Kyongnam Bank becomes the largest bank in Gyeonsang Province.”

Everyone in the auditorium of Kyongnam Bank’s headquarters in Seokjeon-dong, Masan, South Gyeongsang applauded Jeong Gyeong-deuk, chairman and chief executive officer of Kyongnam Bank, and Ha Oi-tae, head of the bank’s union, as they shook hands after signing the Labor-Management Joint Declaration for Cooperative Relation comprised of six articles at 11:00 a.m. on November 6.

Among the participants were the Federation of Korean Trade Unions President Lee Yong-deuk, Korean Financial Industry Union President Kim Dong-mahn, and Busan District Labor Administration chief Jo Ju-hyeon, as well as 350 bank workers.

The labor union entrusted this year’s collective wage bargaining to management to comply with the No Strike Declaration.

The declaration stated that both parties will make efforts for cooperative labor-management relations; the management will follow the Agreement on Job Security of the workers by strong managing; and the two parties will do their utmost to make better working conditions and continue contribution to society.

Chairman Jeong said, “The bank’s growth is on the right track with an increase in size of more than 50 percent over the past two years and with net income rising more than 100 percent. I will speak about the bank’s current situation to the union to come up with measures for development through dialogue.”

Lee Seong-cheol, chairman of the bank union, said that the union found out strikes are limited in achieving its goals. Lee also added that through trust and dialogue between labor and management, workers can realize improvement in working conditions and welfare.

manman@donga.com