Samsung Biologics Labor Dispute Escalates as Management Files Criminal Charges Against Union Leaders

Dispute Over Court-Imposed Strike Restrictions

Uncertainty Looms Over Tripartite Talks

The labor dispute between Samsung Biologics and its labor union over wage increases and improvements to the personnel system has escalated into a criminal lawsuit. Concerns are growing over a prolonged negotiation process, as the company filed a lawsuit against union executives just before a tripartite meeting with labor, management, and government representatives.

Samsung Biologics company logo. Samsung Biologics

On May 8, Samsung Biologics filed a criminal complaint with the Incheon Yeonsu Police Station against six people, including members of the union executive board and on-site managerial-level union members, on charges such as obstruction of business. The company claims that the union carried out a strike in certain production processes where the court had imposed restrictions on industrial action. The complaint targets three members of the union executive board, including Park Jaeseong, head of the Samsung Biologics Win-Win Branch of the Super Enterprise Labor Union, and three managerial-level union members.

Previously, the company filed for an injunction to prohibit industrial action, citing concerns about production disruptions due to the strike. The court restricted strikes in three out of the nine total production processes—those necessary to prevent spoilage and contamination—but allowed industrial action in the remaining six processes.

The union maintains that it continued to perform duties in the three restricted processes during the strike period, as required by the court. On the other hand, the company argues that those assigned to these duties failed to fulfill their obligation to report to work and instead participated in the strike, which it considers problematic.

The union immediately protested. A union representative stated, "This is an unreasonable lawsuit intended to cause psychological intimidation," and argued, "Frequent litigation only highlights instability to external parties and increases customer concerns."

Earlier, on May 4, the company separately filed a complaint against a union member, claiming that psychological pressure was exerted on employees working during the full-scale strike period. The outlook for the scheduled tripartite meeting involving the Ministry of Employment and Labor, labor, and management later this afternoon has also become uncertain. A one-on-one meeting between labor and management representatives, originally scheduled for May 6, was also canceled. The company claimed that the union undermined trust by publicly releasing the content and recordings of their phone conversations, while the union countered that this was merely a stalling tactic to avoid dialogue.

The union is demanding a 30 million won incentive payment per person, an average 14% wage increase, a performance bonus equivalent to 20% of operating profit, and improvements to the personnel system. After negotiations broke down, the union began a partial strike on April 28, followed by a full-scale strike involving approximately 2,800 participants from May 1 to May 5.

The strike took the form of using annual leave on weekdays and refusing to work on holidays. The company estimated that the production of some anticancer drugs and HIV treatments was halted, resulting in losses of up to 150 billion won.

The union returned to the workplace on May 6, but continues an indefinite work-to-rule campaign by refusing overtime and holiday work. The possibility of a second general strike also remains open.

Within the bio industry, there is a prevailing view that the current conflict, which has escalated to criminal complaints, will not be easily resolved in the short term.

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