The largest union at Samsung Electronics, the Samsung Group supra-enterprise labor union Samsung Electronics branch (the supra-enterprise union), demanded that labor union posts be viewable again on the main page of the company's intranet homepage in connection with the company's revamp of its in-house bulletin board "NowTalk." NowTalk is an in-house intranet board used by Samsung Electronics employees.
On the 24th, the supra-enterprise union sent an official letter titled "Position on the NowTalk revamp and request for reconsideration" to Jun Young-hyun, head of the Samsung Electronics Device Solutions (DS) institutional sector, and People Team head Yeo Myung-gu.
Samsung Electronics announced and implemented the NowTalk revamp on the 14th, citing the enforcement of the revised Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection. It converted the existing anonymous board to a real-name system and changed the setup so that NowTalk posts are not displayed directly on the main page of the in-house homepage.
The supra-enterprise union said it has no objection to the shift to a real-name system itself. It said it agrees with the company's intention to protect workers from disparaging remarks or the spread of unverified information under the cover of anonymity and to build a culture of respectful communication.
However, it opposed the measure excluding NowTalk posts from the main page of the in-house homepage. The supra-enterprise union argued that the revised Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, cited by the company as the basis for the revamp, governs the distribution of false or manipulated information and related liability for damages, and is unrelated to the display position or access steps of an in-house bulletin board. The supra-enterprise union said, "Unlike the switch to a real-name system, excluding the board from the main page is not the fulfillment of a statutory obligation but a managerial decision by the company."
It also cited the collective agreement that guarantees union publicity activities. Article 9, paragraph 1 of the labor-management collective agreement includes a provision allowing union promotional materials to be posted on NowTalk, the company intranet. The supra-enterprise union argued, "Even if the right to post is formally maintained, if the content does not reach the members, it is difficult to secure the substance of the guarantee of publicity activities stipulated in the agreement."
Regarding the company's position that the matter could be discussed as an agenda item in 2027 collective bargaining, the union said it aims to resolve it through consultations rather than waiting for collective bargaining. The supra-enterprise union asked the company to restore the setup so that NowTalk posts can again be checked on the main page of the in-house homepage. It requested the company's reply by the 28th.