Suwon: A minor labor union led by members of the non-semiconductor unit of Samsung Electronics Co. filed for a court injunction Tuesday, requesting a suspension of the vote on a tentative wage deal reached with management last week. Unionized members said it made the legal request with the Suwon District Court earlier in the day, claiming the largest labor union at the company did not respect their rights to equality and to cast their votes.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the union stated, "We will fight until the very end to seek and attain a rational alternative, for the marginalized union members of the device experience (DX) division," adding it also plans to file a lawsuit to nullify the vote. The semiconductor giant is facing a severe dispute between labor unions over the tentative wage deal, triggered by a massive disparity in performance bonuses between the semiconductor, or device solutions (DS) division, and the DX division, representing the company's consumer-facing hardware business, such as TVs and household appliances.
A hearing for the preliminary injunction is scheduled for Friday, after the vote on the wage deal closes on Wednesday at 10 a.m., according to legal sources. Also Tuesday, the court dismissed a separate injunction filed on May 15 by another minor union comprising five members of the DX division, requesting to suspend the collective bargaining activities of the company's largest union. The Suwon District Court said the bargaining process was carried out in a lawful manner, adding that it deems the negotiation to be effectively finished, as the labor and management have reached a tentative deal.
Under the last-minute agreement reached Wednesday, employees at the chip division could receive as much as 600 million won (US$398,424) per person in performance-based incentives, while the DX division is likely to receive only around 6 million won in company stocks. The union representing the DX division claimed they were ruled out by the mainstream union during the wage negotiations. In contrast, Samsung's largest union argues members of the DX division voluntarily withdrew from the negotiating body and do not have the rights to participate in the vote.
As of early Tuesday, more than 90 percent of over 650,000 members of the two largest unions of Samsung Electronics have cast their ballots, industry insiders said. The deal will be finalized if a majority of eligible voters participate and more than half vote in favor of the agreement.