KEB union warns walkout if merger takes place

Many KEB workers hit Hana chairman for trying to pacify angry sentiment over the FSC’s alleged endorsement of the Hana-Lone Star deal.

Unionized workers of Korea Exchange Bank have mapped out a plan for a general strike, calling on Hana Financial Group to scrap its preliminary deal with Lone Star Funds.

Their plan comes after Hana Financial signed a revised preliminary deal to take over KEB from Lone Star over the weekend.

Despite the two parties’ recent agreement to lower the takeover price, the KEB union said it is against Hana’s move to pay Lone Star huge management premiums.

“According to the situation, we could choose to stage a general strike,” a union leader said on Monday.

Concerning Hana chairman Kim Seung-yu’s remarks that the group “would ensure the job security of KEB employees if the group successfully acquires the lender,” the union leader said, “He is not in a position to comment on the issue.”

Many KEB unionized workers criticized the Hana chairman for trying to placate angry sentiment over the Financial Services Commission’s alleged endorsement of the Hana-Lone Star deal.

View full story in Korea Herald.