Samsung Group Union Alliance to Be Launched in May
The number of unionized Samsung Display workers has recently topped 1,000 and the union requested negotiations with the management to work on a collective agreement. The two sides already had one round of negotiations to that end.
The union was established on Feb. 17 this year. At present, approximately 25,000 persons are working for the company. The labor union of Samsung Electronics, which is under the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), requested collective bargaining, too.
At present, both the FKTU and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) are concentrating on those labor unions. This is because Samsung Group is symbolically highly significant in labor movements. Solidarity with the unions in the group that recently discarded the principle of no union is essential for the leading labor group title.
It is the KCTU that opened a way through the group via the Samsung Electronics Service union in 2018. However, the subsequent union expansion in the group was led by the FKTU. According to experts, this is because the FKTU is more preferred for its emphasis upon social dialogues, employee welfare, etc. “Samsung Group employees still hesitate to accept the hard-line stance of the KCTU,” one of them explained.
In the meantime, the labor union of Samsung Display is planning to join the Samsung Group Union Alliance scheduled to be established next month. The FKTU is going to request the group to substantially guarantee union activities. At present, the unions of Samsung Display, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Welstory, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Anycar, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and Samsung SDI are under the FKTU.