SEOUL, May 29 - A minority labour union at Samsung Electronics that covers employees in the company's consumer electronics units said it will petition a South Korean court to suspend the implementation of a pay deal that it says disproportionately rewards workers in the chip division.
The Samsung Electronics Co Union (SECU), which counts about 13,000 members primarily employed in the smartphone, television and home appliances divisions, had earlier sought to stop a vote on the agreement by filing an injunction. That vote was later held and approved by two other unions at the company, including the largest union, under a government-mediated deal.
The approved compensation package includes substantial bonuses for workers in Samsung's memory chip division, a group that has seen sharply improved profits in recent months. The government-mediated agreement, approved in the closing hours before a threatened walkout, prevented a planned 18-day strike from taking place.
SECU's leadership has argued that the outcome left many employees outside the chip operations with less favorable terms. After the vote passed, lawyers for SECU told a court on Friday that the union will formally request that implementation of the pay deal be put on hold.
Legal counsel for SECU said they will file revised injunction documents next week and anticipates that a court decision could arrive within about a month. Those remarks were made during a court hearing where the union's intention to seek suspension of the agreement was set out.
Attempts to obtain comment from the largest union at Samsung were met with a refusal to comment from a spokesperson for that union. Samsung Electronics as a company was not immediately available to comment on the legal action.
Context and immediate developments
- Two other unions, including the company’s biggest union, voted to approve a government-mediated pay deal.
- The deal contains large bonuses targeted at the memory chip division.
- SECU represents about 13,000 workers mainly in smartphone, TV and home appliances operations and had initially sought to block the vote.
The legal challenge now underway centers on SECU’s request to halt enactment of the agreement after its approval, with the union pursuing a revised injunction and signaling an expected court ruling within a month.