For Determining Wage Hikes through Labor-Management Council
Samsung Electronics' labor union has filed a complaint with the Ministry of Employment and Labor against the company for determining wage increases for 2022 through the Labor-Management Council.
The joint bargaining group formed by four labor unions within Samsung Electronics held a press conference on May 2. They called the wage agreement reached at the Labor-Management Council "illegal." The joint negotiating group represented the Samsung Electronics Office Workers’ Labor Union, the Samsung Electronics Gumi Branch Labor Union, the Samsung Electronics Labor Union, and the Samsung Electronics National Labor Union.
“When unionists started protests in front of vice chairman Lee Jae-yong’s residence, the management proposed working-level negotiations with the union, but the management has put forward a proposal on vacations without discussing a wage hike and the wage system reform, which are the key items in the wage negotiations,” said a union official. “The management discussed wage increases through the Labor-Management Council, which does not have the collective bargaining right."
“The management’s behavior is an anti-constitutional act that denies the labor union’s collective bargaining right,” the official said.
Earlier, on April 29, the Labor-Management Council set an average wage increase rate for 2022 at 9 percent and agreed to an employee welfare and benefit plan, including a three-day paid leave. The council is a consultative body in which representatives of the management and employees participate to decide on working conditions and wages. Samsung Electronics sets the wage increase rate through the Labor-Management Council every year. Employee members of the council are elected through employees’ votes.
The union believes that the company uses the Labor-Management Council as a means to continue its "no labor union policy." The union filed a complaint with the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office, calling for a thorough investigation into Samsung Electronics’ unfair labor practices.
Some experts argue that, if there is no labor union that represents a majority of employees, labor-management issues such as wages can be discussed or resolved through a labor-management council in which members directly elected by workers participate. The labor union argues that it is illegal to determine wage increases through such a council. But a prevailing view is that wage determination through such a council poses no problem under the current law, if a labor union has not enough members to represent all employees.
Samsung Electronics' labor union currently accounts for only 4 percent of the company's employees, so even if the management negotiates wages with the labor union, the management must negotiate wages separately with the remaining 96 percent of employees who are not affiliated with the labor union.
The management also said that there was no problem in wage negotiations through the Labor-Management Council in light of the Ministry of Labor’s administrative interpretation of the relevant law, and separate wage negotiations with the labor union will continue.
The union plans to condemn Samsung Electronics’ labor practices with the Democratic Party, Justice Party, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) on May 3.