Hana Bank, KB Kookmin Bank reach bargaining agenda deal with subcontracted call center union

Hana Bank and KB Kookmin Bank will form a cooperative council with subcontracted call center unions to discuss protections for emotional laborers and other workplace issues. The agreement marks the first case under the revised Trade Union Act in which parties to a primary-subcontractor mediation dispute have voluntarily reached a concrete bargaining agenda through autonomous negotiations.

The National Labor Relations Commission said Wednesday that Hana Bank, KB Kookmin Bank and the Deundeunhan Call Center branch of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions' Public Transport and Social Service Workers' Union — which represents workers at the banks' subcontracted call centers — had voluntarily agreed on a collective bargaining agenda.

The union filed a mediation request with the commission on Sept. 9. The two banks and the union continued autonomous negotiations afterward, working out a framework for consultations between the primary contractors and their subcontractors.

Under the agreement, a tripartite cooperative council comprising the primary contractors, subcontractors and the union will be established starting in October. The council is expected to take up issues including the protection of emotional laborers.

In line with the agreement, the union withdrew its mediation request from the commission Wednesday.

The commission welcomed the voluntary agreement and said it hopes dialogue and negotiations between primary contractors and subcontractors will proceed smoothly going forward.