Overview

• Unionized finance employees staged a one-day warning strike on Sept. 26 seeking a 3.9 percent wage increase and a four-and-a-half-day workweek.
• Management proposed a 2.4 percent raise and showed little enthusiasm for shortening weekly hours in sectorwide talks.
• Banking services largely ran as usual, with a bank official reporting almost all branches open without disruptions.
• Rally attendance reached about 8,000 in central Seoul, far below the union’s expectation that roughly 80,000 members would join.
• The union cites record industry profits and broader social goals despite average pay near 120 million won at major banks, and it framed the walkout as a warning pending further negotiations.