The Korea Zinc labor union said it would stand in solidarity with the Homeplus Co. labor union over Homeplus Co.'s restructuring crisis. MBK Partners, the largest shareholder of Homeplus Co., is in a management control dispute with Korea Zinc.
The Korea Zinc union under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions' Korean Metal Workers' Federation issued a statement on the 9th, saying it would fight "in solidarity with the Homeplus Co. union against MBK, which threatens jobs." The union said, "MBK Partners has carried out the abrupt closure of all 37 Homeplus Co. stores nationwide, indiscriminate voluntary resignations, and restructuring," adding, "Not only 3,500 regular workers but also 20,000 people, including partner firms and in-store merchants, are facing a mass unemployment crisis."
The union expressed concern that the Homeplus Co. situation could be repeated at Korea Zinc. The union said, "We will stake our lives to block any attempt by MBK to turn Korea Zinc, the heart of Ulsan's economy and a national key industry, into a second 'Homeplus.'"
The Korea Zinc union also called on the government and political circles to impose restrictions on private equity funds acquiring key industries. The union said, "The Homeplus Co. situation is not a crisis of a single corporation but a structural calamity brought on by private equity-style management," adding, "We must not allow leveraged buyouts (LBOs) in which corporations are acquired by taking on debt against asset as collateral and then stores are sold and workers are dismissed to repay that debt." It continued, "The government should immediately carry out measures to normalize Homeplus Co., and the National Assembly should enact a 'predatory private equity prevention law.'"
The union also urged prosecutors and the judiciary to arrest and investigate MBK Partners Chairman Kim Byung-ju and Vice Chairman Kim Kwang-il and to bring them to justice. It called on Ulsan Mayor-elect Kim Sang-wook to "demonstrate practical resolve for the revival of Homeplus Co. and the protection of Korea Zinc," and pressed for employment stability measures for Homeplus Co. workers in Ulsan and steps to block MBK's hostile M&A of Korea Zinc.
The union said, "If MBK refuses to abandon its greed for Korea Zinc to the end, we will launch an all-out struggle in solidarity with the entire organizational capacity of the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, Ulsan civil society, and workers nationwide, including the Homeplus Co. union."