ID :
185215
Mon, 05/30/2011 - 06:48
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/185215
The shortlink copeid
Labor union of SC First Bank goes on strike
(ATTN: ADDS more info in para 6)
SEOUL, May 30 (Yonhap) -- Unionized workers of SC First Bank on Monday launched a one-day general strike in protest against the management's move to introduce a performance-based pay system.
The labor union of the South Korean unit of Standard Chartered Plc said about 2,700 members from branches nationwide gathered in Chungju, 147 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in opposition to the management's push to overhaul the current seniority-based pay system. The bank has around 3,300 unionist members.
"Unionized workers went on strike as the management refuses to budge over the issue," said Bae Kwang-jin, a senior official at the labor union. "We are mulling staging a strike further, but the specific time frame has not been fixed."
SC First Bank is the first lender in South Korea to push for introducing a performance-based pay system, saying that the new pay system will help provide better services to customers by sparking competition in the fast-changing environment in the local banking sector.
But the labor union claims that the performance-based pay system is merely aimed at reducing labor costs.
SC First Bank said it deployed non-union members and available staff to bank branches in a bid to make business operations as smooth as possible.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the country's financial watchdog, said it has set up a task force in a bid to monitor potential fallout of the labor strike on the bank's business.
"The watchdog is closely watching the situation as there is a chance that the strike could be prolonged," said an official at the FSS.
Standard Chartered acquired Korea First Bank for 3.4 trillion won (US$3.1 billion) in April 2005 and renamed it SC First Bank in September of the same year, the largest-ever takeover by the British banking giant.
Recently, market rumors have been spreading that the British banking group may consider exiting the South Korean market.
But Peter Sands, chief executive officer of Standard Chartered, told reporters last month that the group is completely committed to the Korean market, saying that planned closures of some of the bank's branches in Korea are part of the group's usual moves to reshape branch networks in all of its markets.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, May 30 (Yonhap) -- Unionized workers of SC First Bank on Monday launched a one-day general strike in protest against the management's move to introduce a performance-based pay system.
The labor union of the South Korean unit of Standard Chartered Plc said about 2,700 members from branches nationwide gathered in Chungju, 147 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in opposition to the management's push to overhaul the current seniority-based pay system. The bank has around 3,300 unionist members.
"Unionized workers went on strike as the management refuses to budge over the issue," said Bae Kwang-jin, a senior official at the labor union. "We are mulling staging a strike further, but the specific time frame has not been fixed."
SC First Bank is the first lender in South Korea to push for introducing a performance-based pay system, saying that the new pay system will help provide better services to customers by sparking competition in the fast-changing environment in the local banking sector.
But the labor union claims that the performance-based pay system is merely aimed at reducing labor costs.
SC First Bank said it deployed non-union members and available staff to bank branches in a bid to make business operations as smooth as possible.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), the country's financial watchdog, said it has set up a task force in a bid to monitor potential fallout of the labor strike on the bank's business.
"The watchdog is closely watching the situation as there is a chance that the strike could be prolonged," said an official at the FSS.
Standard Chartered acquired Korea First Bank for 3.4 trillion won (US$3.1 billion) in April 2005 and renamed it SC First Bank in September of the same year, the largest-ever takeover by the British banking giant.
Recently, market rumors have been spreading that the British banking group may consider exiting the South Korean market.
But Peter Sands, chief executive officer of Standard Chartered, told reporters last month that the group is completely committed to the Korean market, saying that planned closures of some of the bank's branches in Korea are part of the group's usual moves to reshape branch networks in all of its markets.
sooyeon@yna.co.kr
(END)
