Distributed to company employees via email, etc.
"The power of the militant union will hold us back"
"Closing the door to communication... a union that only cares about its own interests"
The largest labor union within Samsung Electronics, the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union (Jeonsamno), has been on strike for three weeks, while the third union, 'Samsung Electronics Union Donghaeng' (hereafter Donghaeng Union), has criticized Jeonsamno.
According to industry sources on the 26th, the Donghaeng Union stated through emails to employees that "the negotiations through the general strike by the representative labor union we had hoped for have entered a path of sharp confrontation with the company, making it impossible to expect any reasonable outcome." They added, "The power of the militant union, which is not clearly visible now, will only hold us back and bring disappointment in the future." They criticized Jeonsamno as "a labor union that only pursues its own interests with the company that has closed the door to communication," and claimed that "only the employees are divided and suffering."
With the Donghaeng Union expressing a negative stance on the strike, there is speculation that if Jeonsamno fails to reach an agreement with management by early August, it may lose its status as the 'representative bargaining union.' If this happens, Jeonsamno's strike is expected to naturally come to an end.
Jeonsamno secured the representative bargaining rights last August and is guaranteed the status of representative bargaining union until August 4. After that, if even one union requests negotiations with management, individual negotiations will proceed or the negotiation channel will have to be unified again. Currently, Samsung Electronics has five unions, including Jeonsamno, Donghaeng Union, the Office Workers' Union, the Gumi Network Union, and the Samsung Electronics branch of the Samsung Group's cross-company union (formerly the DX branch), which covers five Samsung affiliates.
The labor union conflict within Samsung Electronics is not the first of its kind. Around Jeonsamno's strike declaration on the 29th of last month, the cross-company union DX branch previously alleged misconduct by Jeonsamno. On the 23rd, Jeonsamno stated via a YouTube live broadcast that "there is a possibility of changes on August 5, and to prepare for any unforeseen circumstances, we intend to conclude (negotiations) within that period." Samsung Electronics management and Jeonsamno plan to hold 'final negotiations' over three days starting from the 29th.
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