Samsung Biologics files criminal complaints against six union officials as labor tensions escalate

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[The Financial News]  Tensions are rising at Samsung Biologics as labor-management relations, already strained over wage increases and improvements to the personnel system, have now spilled into criminal complaints.\r\nAccording to the industry on the 8th, Samsung Biologics filed complaints that day with Yeonsu Police Station in Incheon against six union members on charges including work obstruction. The accused include Park Jae-sung, head of the Samsung Biologics Win-Win Branch of the umbrella labor union, three members of the union leadership, and three rank-and-file members in supervisory roles at the plant.
The company claims the union pushed ahead with the strike at some production lines where the court had restricted industrial action. Earlier, the company had sought an injunction to ban industrial action, citing concerns over production disruptions.
\r\nThe court had restricted strikes only on three finishing processes out of nine total lines, citing the need to prevent product deterioration and spoilage. The other six processes were allowed to proceed with industrial action.
The union says it continued to perform the work on those three restricted processes normally during the partial strike from the 28th to the 30th of last month and the full strike from the 1st to the 5th of this month. The company, however, argues that the mere participation in the strike by workers assigned to those tasks constitutes work obstruction.
The union immediately pushed back. It called the move "an attempt to intimidate members through excessive legal action" and argued that "it could instead heighten customer concerns by exposing instability to the outside world."
The company had also filed a separate complaint on the 4th, saying one union member had applied psychological pressure on employees who were working during the strike by telling them to watch the work situation or go home early.
The latest complaint is drawing wider attention because it came just ahead of a scheduled tripartite consultation involving labor, management, and the government. A meeting at the company’s Songdo site, with MOEL participating, had been planned, but there are concerns that the atmosphere for dialogue could cool sharply.
In fact, a one-on-one meeting between labor and management representatives scheduled for the 6th also fell through. The company canceled the talks, citing the union’s release of both sides’ phone conversations and recordings, while the union criticized the move as "stalling."
The union had been negotiating with management while demanding a 30 million won incentive payment per person, an average wage increase of 14%, a 20% share of operating profit as performance bonuses, and fair personnel standards. But when talks failed to make progress, it launched a partial strike last month and a full strike earlier this month.
About 2,800 workers took part in the full strike, which was carried out through weekday leave and refusal to work on holidays. The process reportedly disrupted production of some antitumor agents and HIV treatments. The company estimates the resulting losses at about 150 billion won.
The union has now returned to the workplace, but it continues a compliance campaign by refusing overtime and holiday work. Industry observers say another strike cannot be ruled out if labor and management fail to narrow their differences.
The union has also described the earlier full strike as its "first general strike," leaving open the possibility of further action. Analysts say the labor dispute at Samsung Biologics is entering a prolonged phase.
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vrdw88@fnnews.com Kang Jung-mo Reporter