Union cites Homeplus crisis to condemn MBK; vows to block any hostile takeover of Korea Zinc; urges legislation restricting private equity acquisitions of key industries
The Korea Zinc union, affiliated with the Federation of Korean Metal Workers' Unions under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, declared solidarity with the Homeplus union Wednesday and launched a sharp attack on private equity firm MBK Partners. The union said MBK's acquisition and restructuring practices threaten workers' jobs and regional economies, citing the Homeplus crisis as evidence.
In a statement released Tuesday, the union said MBK's "brutal asset-stripping" had ultimately "devoured the livelihoods of Homeplus workers," and that the Homeplus union's fight "is not someone else's battle — it is our own."
The union cited the planned closure of 37 Homeplus stores nationwide and the resulting wave of recommended resignations and restructuring, arguing that not only full-time workers but also suppliers and in-store vendors have been thrown into widespread job insecurity. It criticized what it called the "predatory nature" of private equity funds that "care nothing for a company's fundamentals or workers' lives, and only enrich themselves by carving up and selling off assets."
The union also linked the situation to the ongoing management control dispute at Korea Zinc itself. "We will fight with our lives to stop any attempt by MBK to turn Korea Zinc — the heart of Ulsan's economy and a pillar of the nation's key industries — into a second Homeplus," it said.
The union urged the government and political circles to establish institutional safeguards restricting private equity funds from acquiring strategically important industries. It characterized the Homeplus crisis as "not merely one company's crisis, but a structural catastrophe brought on by private equity-style management." It added that "predatory leveraged buyouts — where a company is acquired using debt secured against its own assets, then its best stores are sold and workers dismissed to repay that debt — must not be left unchecked."
The union called on the government to follow through on measures to normalize Homeplus, including policy financing and intervention by state-backed bad-debt manager Uamco, and urged the National Assembly to pass what it described as an "anti-predatory private equity fund law."
The union also directed demands at law enforcement, calling for an investigation into MBK's management over both the Homeplus crisis and the pursuit of a hostile takeover of Korea Zinc. It urged prosecutors to hold accountable those it called "the main culprits behind the disruption of capital markets."
The union further called on Kim Sang-uk, the mayor-elect of Ulsan, to take a public stance on the issue. It warned that if the crisis unfolding at Homeplus — whose Buk-gu and Nam-gu branches in Ulsan have already closed — were to be repeated at Korea Zinc, "the impact on Ulsan's employment landscape and regional economy would be devastating." The union asked Kim to publicly commit to protecting the jobs of Homeplus workers and to blocking MBK's hostile takeover bid for Korea Zinc.
"We will never forget the tears of our Homeplus comrades, and we will not stand by as capital's blade turns toward our own workplace," the union said. It added that if MBK refuses to abandon its ambitions over Korea Zinc, the union will mount an all-out campaign in solidarity with the full organizational strength of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Ulsan civil society, the Homeplus union and workers across the country.
kwater@heraldcorp.com
