Samsung Biologics Union Seeks Direct Bargaining With Samsung Electronics
The union says Samsung Electronics has sufficient influence over personnel and compensation policies to join wage talks, as a long-running dispute at Samsung Biologics heads toward another strike.
The labor union at Samsung Biologics has asked Samsung Electronics to enter direct negotiations over personnel and compensation policies, widening a wage dispute that has continued for more than six months.
The union said Tuesday that it sent a formal bargaining request to Samsung Electronics, which owns a 30.92 percent stake in the biopharmaceutical manufacturer and is its second-largest shareholder. The union argues that the electronics company exercises enough practical influence over employment policies to qualify as an employer under South Korean labor law.
Its request covers employee evaluations, promotions, performance-linked compensation and the broader rules governing personnel and rewards. The union asked Samsung Electronics to provide relevant human-resources information and appoint bargaining representatives by Monday. It proposed holding an initial meeting at Samsung Biologics on Oct. 14.
The union said it is seeking talks only on matters where it believes Samsung Electronics holds actual decision-making authority. If the company does not respond, the union plans to seek corrective action through the labor relations commission and ask for a formal determination of whether Samsung Electronics has employer status.
The move adds a new legal and corporate-governance dimension to the unresolved negotiations between Samsung Biologics and its workforce. Management and the union remain divided over wages and personnel-system changes after three rounds of post-mediation discussions failed to produce an agreement.
The union has announced a second strike lasting three weeks from Oct. 26. Workers previously held a partial strike in late April and a full walkout from May 1 through May 5, which the union described as its first general strike. Members have since continued work-to-rule action, including declining overtime and holiday shifts.
Samsung Biologics estimated that the five-day walkout in May caused about 150 billion won, or roughly $112 million, in losses. The company is a major contract manufacturer in the global biopharmaceutical supply chain, making the course of the labor dispute significant beyond the immediate wage negotiations.
The latest demand will test whether labor authorities accept the union’s argument that a major shareholder can be required to bargain when it is alleged to shape key workplace policies. It also raises the possibility that the dispute could extend from Samsung Biologics’ management to another central company in the Samsung group just weeks before the planned strike.