Today Compliance, Tomorrow Labor Union... The Speed of JY's New Samsung Transformation

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyewon] Samsung Electronics labor and management will establish a collective agreement for the first time in its 52-year history. The historic collective agreement signing ceremony will be held on the 12th, one day before Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s parole.

This is the first time that Samsung Electronics labor and management have reached an agreement through collective bargaining. It is the result of nine months since Samsung Electronics and the union joint bargaining team held a preliminary meeting and began collective bargaining in November last year. It is also about one year and three months since Vice Chairman Lee held a national press conference in May last year and declared the abolition of “no-union management.” Previously, among the five electronics affiliates, Samsung Display signed a collective agreement with the union in January.

The abolition of no-union management has become a symbolic change representing Vice Chairman Lee’s New Samsung. The attempt to establish a new labor-management culture was greatly influenced by the recommendations of the Samsung Compliance Committee. The Compliance Committee viewed violations of labor-related compliance obligations as potentially causing significant damage to Samsung’s corporate value and urged a paradigm shift centered on free union activities, which led to Vice Chairman Lee’s declaration to abolish no-union management.

Vice Chairman Lee’s New Samsung focuses on compliance management as a core pillar, including having all executives pledge to “practice compliance” so that adherence to laws and principles can become part of the organizational culture, in addition to improving labor-management relations. Whenever concerns about the continuation of the Compliance Committee arose, Vice Chairman Lee personally sent messages guaranteeing the committee’s independence, expressing his determination to root “compliance = Samsung’s culture.” On the 11th, Compliance Committee Chairman Kim Ji-hyung gave lectures to vice presidents of major affiliates to establish a compliance culture and enhance ethical management.

Strengthening social roles centered on “coexistence,” emphasized by Vice Chairman Lee, is also a direction for New Samsung and is expected to gain momentum with his return to management. A recent representative example is the expansion of opening corporate cafeterias to the public. Following two in-house cafeterias in the first half of this year, six more cafeterias in Suwon, Gwangju, and Gumi will be opened to the public, and public bidding began on the same day.

In particular, this bidding accepts the criticism that practical coexistence is necessary and targets small and medium-sized catering companies, giving additional points to companies that are small businesses or located in the regions where the cafeterias are situated. Regarding ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management, a hot topic in the business community, it is expected that specific promotion strategies will be announced for each affiliate in conjunction with Vice Chairman Lee’s return.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.