Samsung Electronics 4 Labor Unions Unite As One
Samsung Electronics 4 Labor Unions (hereinafter referred to as unions) have begun full-fledged integration discussions. As wage negotiations in 2024, which were originally pursued with the goal of raising wages in March, continued to be difficult, the top four unions within Samsung Electronics joined forces to increase their bargaining power.
Separately from this, an integrated labor union was launched that brings together unions from affiliates such as Samsung Electronics, Samsung BioLogics, Samsung Display, and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance. There are a total of five unions related to Samsung Electronics.
Integration Promotion Committee Of Four Labor Unions Held Within Samsung Electronics
The ‘National Samsung Electronics Workers’ Union (Jeonsamno)’, the largest labor union within Samsung Electronics, will hold an integrated promotion committee on the 21st with the participation of ‘Samsung Electronics Office Workers’ Union’, ‘Samsung Electronics Gumi Union’, and ‘Samsung Electronics Union Together’.
Samsung Electronics’ labor and management failed to finalize wage negotiations last year and are conducting parallel negotiations for 2024, but the gap between the basic wage increase rate of 2.5% proposed by management this year and the union’s 8.1% increase rate is still large. Jeon Sam-no, who has representative negotiating rights, pointed out that the company showed a passive attitude in the working-level negotiations held on the 16th and announced that it plans to launch a full-fledged industrial action committee.
Samsung Electronics’ labor-management relations were put to the test in 2020 when Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong officially suggested the abolition of non-union management. In 2021, the company signed a collective agreement for the first time since its founding, followed by wage negotiations (hereinafter referred to as wage agreements) the following year. Labor-management relations, which seemed to be going smoothly, began to squeak in 2023. Last year, while wage negotiations were in progress, when the management unilaterally announced a wage increase through the labor-management council, the union halted negotiations citing ‘union passing’.
The Labor-Management Council is an organization comprised of employer and employee members and has been coordinating wage increase rates since the days of non-union management. However, the union argues that the Labor-Management Council does not faithfully reflect the union’s demands because it negotiates based on the basic rate increase guidelines issued by the Business Support Task Force (TF). Even though Samsung Electronics labor and management resumed salary negotiations in September 2023, they were unable to reach any significant agreement.
In this situation, employees’ complaints about performance bonuses in the DS division became a catalyst for strengthening the union’s influence. Due to poor performance last year, the 2024 excess profit performance bonus (OPI) for employees in the DS division was confirmed to be 0 won, and the number of union members at Jeonsamno also increased rapidly. As of the 5th of this month, there were about 16,600 employees, or about 14% of the total employees. The number of union members, which was around 9,000 by the end of 2023, soared by more than 50% in just a month.
Emergence Of Super-Corporate Unions Encompassing Affiliates
The ‘Samsung Group Super-Corporate Union (Super-Corporate Union)’, a joint venture of unions from Samsung’s electronics and financial affiliates, including Samsung Electronics, also announced its official launch on the 19th. Participating parties include Samsung Electronics ‘ ‘DX Union’ and Samsung Display’s ‘Open Union’, as well as Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance’s ‘Marine Insurance Ribbon Union’ and Samsung BioLogics’ ‘Win-Win Union’. Although they were not present at the launch ceremony, Samsung Electro-Mechanics’ ‘Respect Labor Union’ is also scheduled to join in May.
The reason they gathered together is to join forces and increase their negotiating power. The total number of members of the large-scale enterprise union is approximately 15,000, and it will have a similar status in size to Jeon Sam-no, which currently has the largest number of members within Samsung Electronics. Inside Samsung Electronics, it is being pointed out that the management’s attitude, which has not changed much from the past even after four years of declaring union-free management, has erupted due to complaints about year-end performance bonuses.
There are complaints that the method of determining the wage increase rate, which is handed down to the labor-management council through the business support task force, is still the same. An employee of Samsung Electronics’ DS division said, “The number of employees joining the union is increasing due to the performance-based pay shock. At the same time, voices calling for an issue with the company’s opaque performance-based pay selection method are also growing.”
There is also a purpose to establish independence in labor-management relations of each affiliate. They pointed out that the labor-management relations of affiliates are being standardized to suit the flagship company, Samsung Electronics, regardless of each company’s management performance. For example, Samsung Display, which achieved its highest performance ever last year, has a basic wage increase rate of 2% this year, which is the same as Samsung Electronics, which suffered the worst semiconductor slump. They began to publicly criticize the conflicting treatment between Samsung Electronics and ‘Samsung Huja’, a self-deprecatory term for other affiliates excluding Samsung Electronics.
The large enterprise union explained that it will not be involved in the individual negotiations of each affiliated union, but that it can take collective action when necessary. When group actions such as rallies are necessary, large-scale corporate unions provide support. At this time, there is a possibility that labor-management problems that occurred at individual affiliates could spread to the entire Samsung Group. However, rather than struggle, the large enterprise union said, “We will find a new way that the people can sympathize with.”
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