Hanyang Securities labor and management will enter collective negotiations starting in August. This is the first negotiation proceeding after KCGI acquired Hanyang Securities. The key issue is whether the company and the union can narrow the gap in their positions, as the union is demanding compensation for the sale and prevention of restructuring.
According to the financial investment industry on the 28th, Hanyang Securities labor and management will hold collective negotiation discussions starting with a meeting in the first week of August.
The main issue is the 'compensation for the sale.' Typically, when a merger or acquisition (M&A) is completed, the side selling the management rights provides compensation to the employees as a form of reward. The buyer and seller may share the burden equally, or the buyer may provide it. When KCGI acquired Meritz Asset Management (now KCGI Asset Management) in 2023, existing employees also received compensation for the sale.
The problem is that KCGI's acquisition of Hanyang Securities has not proceeded smoothly, leading to unclear discussions. KCGI signed a stock purchase agreement (SPA) with Hanyang Academy in September last year and applied for approval of the change of major shareholders from the Financial Services Commission in January this year. However, in March, the National Tax Service began a tax investigation of KCGI, delaying the eligibility review for major shareholders. After approximately two months, the tax investigation ended, and final approval from the Financial Services Commission was granted in June.
The Hanyang Securities labor union stated that they received direct promises regarding compensation for the sale and job security from KCGI's representative, Kang Seong-bu. It is said that an 'agreement for labor-management coexistence and development' was also supposed to be signed between the union and KCGI in October last year, addressing issues like job security and performance distribution among employees.
Choi Kwang-joo, head of the Hanyang Securities branch of the National Union of Financial Services Workers, said, "In September last year, I received direct contact from CEO Kang Seong-bu, and he said at the time, 'We are discussing compensation with Hanyang Academy and preparing to share it equally. Also, there will be no artificial restructuring.'"
However, during the prolonged review by the Financial Services Commission, the labor-management coexistence and development agreement became vague, and the union claims that Kim Byeong-cheol, the new representative of Hanyang Securities, changed the position to say that the responsibility for paying the compensation for the sale lies with Hanyang Academy.
The union stated that since they believed in the verbal agreement made last year and withdrew their opposition to the M&A, the promises should be kept. Choi added, "When I asked CEO Kang Seong-bu about the specific scale and payment criteria for the compensation, he suggested, 'After the acquisition is complete, discuss it with the new representative.'" He noted, "We have also secured related audio recordings."
Hanyang Securities faced setbacks with its proposal to improve in-house welfare systems for organizational stability. Hanyang Securities decided to change the health check-up cycle from every two years to once a year and to support subscriptions to personal pensions and the 'KCGI Junior Fund' for minors. Some suspect that instead of cash compensation, they are trying to ease tensions with improvements to welfare systems.
Hanyang Securities stated regarding collective negotiations, "Specific details have not yet been determined, but the compensation for the sale raised by the union should have been discussed first with Hanyang Academy, the stakeholder."
Hanyang Securities also stated, "We are currently focusing on organizational stability and are doing our best for sustainable growth in collaboration with the new major shareholders and management."