'We will not forget Homeplus workers' tears': Korea Zinc union declares solidarity, blasts MBK Partners

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 and sharply criticized MBK Partners, arguing that private equity fund acquisitions and restructuring practices are threatening workers' employment and regional economies.

According to industry sources, the Korea Zinc union issued a statement Monday saying that "MBK's feared 'hit-and-run atrocities' have ultimately devoured the livelihoods of Homeplus workers," and that "the Homeplus union's fight is not someone else's fight — it is our own."

The union cited the recent closure of 37 Homeplus stores nationwide and the wave of recommended resignations and restructuring, saying the moves have left not only full-time workers but also suppliers and in-store merchants facing widespread job insecurity. It went on to say that the situation exposed "the predatory nature of private equity funds that care nothing for a company's fundamentals or workers' lives, and exist only to carve up assets and line their own pockets."

The Korea Zinc union also linked the issue to the ongoing management control dispute at its own company. "We will fight with our lives to block any attempt by MBK to turn Korea Zinc — the heart of Ulsan's economy and a key national industry — into a second Homeplus," the union said.

The union urged the government and the political establishment to establish institutional safeguards restricting private equity fund acquisitions of strategically important industries. It described the Homeplus crisis as "not merely a crisis of one company, but a structural disaster brought on by private equity-style management," and said that "predatory leveraged buyouts — in which debt is taken on using assets as collateral to acquire a company, then prime stores are sold and workers are dismissed to repay that debt — must not be left unchecked."

The union called on the government to follow through on measures to normalize Homeplus operations, including policy fund support and intervention by state-backed asset manager Uamco, and urged the National Assembly to pass legislation to prevent what it called "predatory private equity fund practices."

The union also directed demands at judicial authorities, calling for an investigation into MBK's management over both the Homeplus crisis and its pursuit of a hostile takeover of Korea Zinc. It urged strict legal action against what it described as "the chief culprit behind capital market disruption."

The union also called on Ulsan Mayor-elect Kim Sang-uk to take a public stance on the issue. It said that with Homeplus stores in Buk-gu and Nam-gu already closed, "if the tragedy unfolding at Homeplus is repeated at Korea Zinc, the impact on Ulsan's employment landscape and regional economy would be devastating." The union demanded that Kim publicly commit to securing job stability for Homeplus workers and to blocking MBK's hostile takeover bid against 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 workplace," the union said. "If MBK refuses to abandon its greed for Korea Zinc, we will mount an all-out struggle in solidarity with the full organizational strength of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Ulsan civic society, the Homeplus union and workers across the country."