Samsung Electronics labor union Companion (Companion union), centered on employees in the Samsung Electronics device experience (DX·finished goods) institutional sector, will hold a rally of about 3,000 people near the Seocho office building in Seoul on the 21st. With this year's wage talks already concluded, whether holding a rally during working hours without going through separate dispute procedures constitutes a labor action has emerged as a key issue.
According to the industry on the 20th, the Companion union plans to hold a rally from 3 p.m. on the 21st near the Samsung Electronics Seocho office building in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The expected number of participants is about 3,000. After the rally, they also plan a street march around Gangnam Station and the Seocho office building area.
The Companion union argues that, in the wage talks concluded on May 5, compensation for DX institutional sector employees was not sufficient compared with the device solutions (DS·semiconductor) institutional sector, which handles the semiconductor business. It is demanding that the previous wage bargaining be reopened and that an additional compensation plan be prepared to grant 1,000 shares of company stock per DX institutional sector employee.
In the May wage talks, Samsung Electronics labor and management agreed to grant company stock worth 6 million won per DX institutional sector employee. Accordingly, on the 8th of last month, a total of 1,083,434 shares of company stock were granted to 49,345 employees. Applying the July 6 closing price of 318,000 won, the amount is about 344.5 billion won. Some analysis also says that if the Companion union's demand to grant 1,000 shares of company stock per person is actually applied, Samsung Electronics' additional burden could exceed 11 trillion won.
This rally is also expected to spark controversy over the legality of its format. The Companion union is said not to have gone through adjustment procedures and a vote by members for a labor action. Under the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act, certain procedures such as adjustment and a vote by union members are required for disputes including strikes. As such, the industry sees a potential issue over whether, if many members leave work simultaneously to attend a rally during weekday working hours, it is a simple labor union rally or constitutes a collective refusal to provide labor.
The fact that this year's wage negotiations have already been concluded is also a source of controversy. If collective action is taken with additional demands related to wages and compensation during the period when the labor-management agreement is valid, interpretations may differ over the effect of the agreement and whether the duty of peaceful relations has been violated.
The Companion union says that because members' participation in the rally is voluntary, it is different from a labor action. Rally participants plan to use annual leave and the company's leave system, "D-DAY." D-DAY is a system that allows employees who worked beyond designated hours due to heavy workloads to take a day off on another day. The Companion union's position is that, because they are participating in the rally using normal leave systems, it cannot be seen as a labor action refusing company work.
On the other hand, in business circles, there is also a view that if many employees simultaneously use annual leave or D-DAY on the same day to participate in a rally, it should be examined whether, in substance, it constitutes a collective refusal to provide labor even if, in form, they used leave.