Samsung Electronics replied to a labor union that requested verification for granting "worker representative status," while claiming half of the members had joined, saying it "wants to have the matter checked and determined by a credible external body."
The supra-enterprise labor union's Samsung Electronics chapter said on the 7th that it received an official letter from management with this content. Earlier on the 5th, the supra-enterprise union sent an official letter to Chairman Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics, Jun Young-hyun, CEO of Samsung Electronics (head of the DS division and vice chairman), acting head of the DX division Roh Tae-Moon (president), and other key executives, stating that it "achieved the enrollment of about 63,886 members, exceeding a majority (50%) of all workers." It was aimed at "clarifying the status and legal authority of the worker representative and proceeding with an objective procedure to calculate the number of union members."
In the official letter sent to the supra-enterprise union that day, Samsung Electronics said, "The status of the worker representative is not a matter the company can decide at its discretion," and added, "Objective verification is needed as to whether the requirements set by law have been met."
Samsung Electronics currently has a multiple-union system with five unions active. As of the 4th, the supra-enterprise union previously claimed it had "numerically achieved a majority" if you add the number of members of ▲ the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union (Jeonsamno; 25,709) ▲ the Samsung Electronics Companion Union (2,072) ▲ the supra-enterprise union (34,781).
Under the Labor Standards Act, a worker representative is defined as "a labor union organized by a majority of workers" or "a person representing a majority of workers." Based on this year's semiannual report, Samsung Electronics has a total of 129,524 employees (including 599 fixed-term workers), so a process is needed to verify whether it meets the "worker representative conditions." Some in labor circles note that the figures the supra-enterprise union claims were not achieved by a single organization and that there are overlapping members, so it may lack the conditions to have representativeness.
Samsung Electronics established its first union in 2018, but there was no "majority union." With no union holding representativeness, wage talks were conducted separately. If multiple unions form a delegation or similar, unite, and through that are recognized as having a majority of members and conclude a collective agreement with management, the contents would have "general binding force." Employees who are not union members would also be affected by the agreement. In addition, if recognized as a majority union, it could hold the right to appoint worker committee members to the labor-management council and participate in various decision-making processes such as changes to work rules.