Samsung Group's Super-Union Criticizes Jeonsamno's Strike Declaration
"A Step to Join a Higher-Level Organization"
As the largest union of Samsung Electronics, the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union (Jeonsamno), declared its first-ever strike, a post accusing Jeonsamno of misconduct was uploaded by the Samsung Group super-union, sparking controversy. The super-union is an integrated labor union comprising unions from four affiliates within the Samsung Group.
On the 4th, A, the head of the Samsung Electronics DX branch of the super-union, posted a message titled "Reporting Jeonsamno's Misconduct from the DX Branch" on the company bulletin board the previous day. A alleged multiple account usage by Jeonsamno's executive committee and manipulation of working hour exemptions through inflating the number of union members, releasing recordings and other evidence. A claimed that when Jeonsamno launched its union website in 2020, it inflated the number of members and secured maximum working hour exemptions by fraudulently registering non-union general employees using their internal account information.
Members of the Samsung Electronics labor union held a cultural event on the afternoon of the 24th of last month in front of the Samsung Electronics headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, urging negotiations with the labor union. [Image source=Yonhap News]
In the 2022 collective agreement, Samsung Electronics management granted more than 15,000 hours of working hour exemptions based on the claim that Jeonsamno had over 4,000 members. Currently, eight full-time members of Jeonsamno, including the chairman and vice-chairman, receive working hour exemptions. In response, Jeonsamno told Yonhap News in a phone interview, "Issues such as inflating the number of members and multiple accounts were discovered during the previous executive committee before moving to the DX union, but the new executive committee has corrected everything."
Jeonsamno declared its first strike in its history on the 29th of last month, just one day after the breakdown of the main negotiations with management for wage talks, and instructed members to use a day of annual leave on the 7th. A bus lodging sit-in protest is also ongoing in front of the Seocho building. As of the 3rd, Jeonsamno estimated its membership at 28,387.
Meanwhile, tensions between unions have been escalating around Jeonsamno's first strike declaration. On the day of the strike declaration, the super-union issued a statement saying, "This is not aimed at improving employees' working conditions but is intended to lay the groundwork for joining the higher-level organization (Korean Confederation of Trade Unions)."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
