Samsung Display workers form another labor union within anti-union conglomerate

Posted on : 2020-02-21 17:22 KST Modified on : 2020-02-21 17:22 KST
Becomes fifth Samsung union to join the Federation of Korean Trade Unions
The Samsung Display labor union holds its launch ceremony at the Federation of Korean Trade Unions conference room in Seoul on Feb. 20. (Yonhap News)
The Samsung Display labor union holds its launch ceremony at the Federation of Korean Trade Unions conference room in Seoul on Feb. 20. (Yonhap News)

Another labor union has been established in the Samsung Group, which has long had a policy of banning unions.

The Samsung Display labor union, which has joined the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), held its launch ceremony at the FKTU’s conference room in Seoul, on Feb. 20. “We’ve suffered from unfair reassignments and pressure to resign under unilateral management and a lack of communication at this company. This union will take the lead in protecting its members and ensuring that they receive fair payment for their labor,” the union said.

Efforts to set up a union at Samsung Display were accelerated by internal discontent about the company’s announcement, on Jan. 29, that it won’t give workers a bonus, called an overall performance incentive (OPI). The company is estimated to have earned 1.9 trillion won (US$1.58 billion) in operating profits last year. Since the union’s certificate of establishment was issued in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, on Feb. 19, it has been recruiting members both online and offline. There are about 25,000 people on the company’s payroll.

“The recent outcome of a trial of former and current Samsung executives [who were given prison sentences for their efforts to crush a union at Samsung Electronics Service] and the [pro-union] stance of the current administration seems to have been helpful. Prior to this, workers at Samsung Display haven’t been guaranteed their constitutional rights to organize, engage in collective bargaining, and take collective action, nor have they received fair compensation for their labor. Going forward, we’ll forge a labor-management relationship that’s appropriate for the era in which we live and the method of management at the group,” said Lee Chang-wan, 29, chair of the union’s joint committee.

The union at Samsung Display is the fifth FKTU member among Samsung affiliates, along with unions at Samsung Electronics and Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance. “We agreed that we ought to find ‘clothing that fits’ [FKTU] rather than ‘good clothing,” said Lee, in a reference to the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), South Korea’s other major trade union coalition.

“Our model was the union established at Samsung Electronics [a member of the FKTU]. One advantage is that this allows us to partner with unions at SK Hynix and LG Electronics,” said Lee.

While labor advocates and researchers believe that the various unions set up at Samsung affiliates since the second half of 2019 will help to undermine the group’s opposition to unions, many are hesitant to make any predictions about their sustainability.

“Even if we don’t see an explosive growth in the number of union members for now [because of the company’s efforts to block employees from signing up], Samsung’s larger strategy of busting unions seems to be weakening. But given the two variables of an administration that guarantees basic labor rights and the organizational rivalry between the two trade union centers, it’s too soon to draw conclusions about the union’s sustainability,” said Noh Gwang-pyo, director of the Korea Labor and Society Institute.

By Seon Dam-eun, staff reporter

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