"We Heard Remarks About Being Excluded from Bargaining" Samsung Electronics' Second-Largest Union Demands an Apology from the Majority Union

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[The Financial News] As Samsung Electronics' largest union, the Samsung Electronics supra-enterprise labor union, prepares for a general strike on the 21st, tensions among internal unions are intensifying. After the third-largest union recently sent a formal complaint saying it had been insulted and belittled, the second-largest union has also stepped in, demanding an apology after saying it "heard threatening remarks about being excluded from bargaining." The conflict between the largest union and the other unions appears to be deepening.
According to the industry on the 8th, the National Samsung Electronics Union sent a letter the previous day to the Samsung Electronics Branch of the Super-Enterprise Labor Union, expressing regret over remarks it described as threatening exclusion from bargaining and requesting an apology for activities to gather members' opinions.
The Samsung Electronics supra-enterprise labor union is currently the largest union inside Samsung Electronics, with about 73,000 members. The National Samsung Electronics Union is the company's second-largest union, with about 17,000 members.
In the letter, the National Samsung Electronics Union claimed that Choi Seung-ho, head of the Samsung Electronics supra-enterprise labor union, took issue with on-site communication activities by branch head Lee Ho-seok, who represents members in the Device eXperience (DX) Division, and made remarks implying that he would be excluded from bargaining unless he apologized.
The union said this went beyond an attack on an individual and amounted to an attempt to erase the voices of DX members from the bargaining table. It added that the move would discourage the duties of member representatives and seriously undermine trust among workers and unions. It also expressed deep concern and regret over what it called an attitude that, following previous instances of damaging external trust through careless remarks about other unions, now seeks to silence even legitimate internal voices through pressure in the form of "exclusion from bargaining."
It demanded that Choi apologize for his remarks and show a forward-looking attitude to restore trust between the organizations. It also stressed that, as the majority union, it should not ignore or exclude any specific division, but instead demonstrate leadership that unites both the Device Solutions Division (DS Division) and the DX Division.
Tensions among labor unions at Samsung Electronics have recently been rising, as the supra-enterprise labor union has demanded performance bonuses estimated at 600 million won per person for the DS Division, while making no separate demands for the DX Division.
Samsung Electronics Labor Union Donghang, the company's third-largest union and one with many members from the DX business division, withdrew from the Samsung Electronics labor union joint struggle headquarters, saying, "The union is not responding at all to proposals and requests aimed at protecting the rights and interests of all members."
As the conflict among unions deepens, member defections from the supra-enterprise labor union continue. Membership, which once exceeded 77,000, has fallen to around 73,000 recently, with as many as 1,000 members leaving per day since the end of last month.
soup@fnnews.com Im Subin Reporter