"300% Bonus and 10 Million Won Requested"… KB Kookmin Bank Union 96% Approves Strike

Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

The KB Kookmin Bank labor union has decided to go on strike if their demands, including an increase in performance bonuses, are not met during the wage and collective bargaining negotiations. If the strike occurs, it will be the first in six years since 2019.

According to the financial sector on the 15th, the KB Kookmin Bank union held a strike vote on the 14th. Of the 9,702 union members who participated (voter turnout of 88.22%), 9,274 members, or 95.59%, voted in favor. The union declared the breakdown of the wage and collective bargaining negotiations on the 26th of last month and applied for labor dispute mediation to the Central Labor Relations Commission (CLRC) under the Ministry of Employment and Labor, but no agreement was reached through mediation. The CLRC decided to suspend the mediation.

The union is currently demanding in the negotiations: ▲ a performance bonus of 300% (based on ordinary wages) + 10 million KRW ▲ a wage increase rate of 2.8% ▲ expansion of new hires ▲ increase in congratulatory and condolence allowances ▲ improvement of medical expense support system ▲ improvement of the wage peak system.

A KB Kookmin Bank official stated, "Although the union vote resulted in favor of striking, if an actual strike occurs, customers will inevitably face inconvenience, so we will try to reach an agreement with the union as soon as possible through additional negotiations."

According to the 2023 business report, the average salary per KB Kookmin Bank employee is about 120 million KRW.