The supra-enterprise labor union's Samsung Electronics branch (hereafter the supra-enterprise union), which holds a majority at Samsung Electronics, recently revised its bylaws to allow the union leadership to be paid monthly position stipends worth several million won or more.
According to the industry on the 17th, the supra-enterprise union created a new union bylaw through a general meeting in March stating that a portion of union dues can be allocated as position stipends for the leadership, including the Chairperson.
Under the bylaws, the union Chairperson may allocate and execute position stipends within 10% of union dues. If the number of executive staff is eight or fewer, the funding source for the position stipends is capped at 5% of union dues.
Currently, roughly 70,000 members of the supra-enterprise union pay 10,000 won in monthly dues. About 700 million won is collected in dues each month, and up to about 35 million won can be allocated as position stipends. Considering that the number of leadership members receiving the stipend is five (six including the accounting auditor), the leadership can receive an average of 5.8 million to 7 million won per person per month.
The leadership is exempt from working hours and receives salaries from the company, and an internal debate is underway over whether this rule, which allows them to receive several million won more from union dues, is appropriate.
At the general meeting in March, the supra-enterprise union held a strike authorization vote and included this new position stipend plan in the ballot, drawing criticism that the stipend rule may have been passed in a "bundled through" manner.