Three unions back chairman of Hanjin KAL in family feud

Labor unions at Hanjin Group and its affiliates released a joint statement supporting Cho Won-tae, chairman of the airline group, on Monday in a proxy battle with his sister Cho Hyun-ah for the control of the company.

The unionized members from Hanjin Group, Korean Air Lines and Korea Airport Service condemned Cho Hyun-ah and the shareholders supporting her, saying that they will damage the interests of laborers and ruin Hanjin’s reputation. Cho Hyun-ah formed an alliance with KCGI and Bando Engineering & Construction to challenge Cho Won-tae’s leadership.

The labor unions have a membership of around 12,000 workers out of a total of 24,000 employees.

The three shareholders have advocated the hiring of a professional manager to replace the chairman. They recommended eight candidates, including Kim Shin-bae, former executive vice chairman at SK Group, and Bae Kyung-tae, executive vice president at Samsung Electronics.

KCGI kept the pressure on on Monday, suggesting an open discussion with Chairman Cho over management and corporate governance at Hanjin.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]