[The Editors' Verdict]Does the Samsung Union Understand the Gravity of This Situation?

Leadership Says, "It Would Be Best to Just Get Rid of It"

If a public forum were held on the topic, "Is Samsung a good company?" a hundred people would likely give a hundred different answers. In Korea's current reality, this issue remains hotly debated and controversial.

Even so, I would like to ask this of Lee Song-i, Vice Chairperson of the Samsung Electronics Chapter of the Samsung Group Super-Enterprise Labor Union (Super-Enterprise Union). What exactly did the company do to push you to the point where you thought, "It would be better if we just got rid of it," and to say such alarming things as, "If I go to jail, I'll read some books and work out," or "If you want, I'll become a gangster"? If the company—especially one as large as Samsung Electronics—committed a wrongdoing so serious that the representative of its employee organization is willing to go to jail and fight like a gangster, from the chairman down to the frontline managers, society would not simply let it slide.

I would also like to ask Jaeseong Park, head of the Samsung Biologics Chapter of the Super-Enterprise Union. Did the company really commit such a serious irregularity that you had to extract confidential internal accounting data and spread it to the world? And is it reasonable to say, "Let’s just call it a strike since the company will suffer losses anyway, so pay us more money"?

Park and Seungho Choi, Chairperson of the Super-Enterprise Union, traveled overseas during this precarious phase, citing family commitments and other reasons. Even if they agree with the dispute, I wonder if they have considered the weight of the "ordinary everyday promises" made by the tens or even hundreds of thousands of decent employees and their families who either disagree with such actions or oppose the dispute itself. While they claim it is not simply about money, few people believe that. Nearly all of their demands are about institutionalizing unlimited tens of trillions of won in performance bonuses, raising wages by an average of 14%, and providing tens of millions of won in lump-sum payments per person. This is nothing more and nothing less than a matter of money.

What about their tactics of not trying to mediate conflicts arising from interdepartmental interests, but instead loudly declaring that a company spin-off is inevitable, or deflecting attention by saying the president's criticism was about another company? This stands in stark contrast to about a decade ago, when "Banolim," the human rights group for Samsung Electronics semiconductor workers, raised the issue of industrial accidents and, amid controversy, provided the basis for a broader social discussion about social solidarity and universal concerns.

Today, on the 20th, it would be fortunate if an agreement is reached at the post-mediation meeting between Samsung Electronics labor and management. However, the hurdle of a union member vote still remains, and naturally the leadership’s guidance will have an impact on this process. The strike at Samsung Biologics is also likely to be influenced by the outcome of Samsung Electronics' post-mediation. The Bank of Korea has analyzed that if Samsung Electronics' union goes on a general strike, South Korea's economic growth rate this year could drop by up to 0.5 percentage points. Samsung Biologics is estimated to have already suffered losses exceeding 150 billion won due to the partial strike by its union. The union leadership must coolly reflect on just how big a "game" they have set in motion.

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