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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Samsung Electronics has filed a criminal complaint with police after an internal “blacklist” allegedly identifying non-union employees was created and circulated within the company.
According to industry sources on April 13, Samsung Electronics said in an internal notice on April 10 that a document containing the names of dozens of employees—along with their department names, employee IDs, and union membership status—had been shared via internal messaging platforms. The list, reportedly identifying non-union employees, is believed to have been compiled by individuals presumed to be union members who exploited a union membership system by entering colleagues’ employee IDs and using a “duplicate check” function to determine whether they were union members.
The company stated that extracting and sharing employee information for purposes unrelated to work constitutes a clear criminal act and a serious violation of human rights. On April 9, Samsung Electronics filed a complaint with the Hwaseong Dongtan Police Station in Gyeonggi Province on charges of violating the Personal Information Protection Act. Under Korean law, collecting or compiling union membership data without the individual’s consent is strictly prohibited.
Authorities are expected to determine through investigation whether the incident was an organized action by the labor union or an isolated act by certain members. Regardless, legal experts have criticized the conduct as “crossing the line.”
Last month, Choi Seung-ho, head of the Samsung Electronics chapter of a labor union, stated during a YouTube broadcast that employees who did not participate in strike actions would be tracked on a list. He further suggested that in the event of forced reassignment or layoffs requiring labor-management consultation, such non-union employees could be prioritized as targets.
Legal experts note that decisions regarding union membership or participation in collective action are protected under the Constitution as matters of individual choice. Creating a list of non-union employees and exerting psychological pressure or implying potential disadvantages could constitute a typical “blacklist” offense and may also violate workplace anti-bullying laws.
Samsung Electronics’ labor union is currently demanding performance-based bonuses equivalent to 15% of operating profit—exceeding the roughly 10% level paid by rival SK hynix.
If Samsung Electronics were to generate annual operating profit of KRW 300 trillion, the requested bonus payout would amount to approximately KRW 45 trillion (15% of operating profit). This figure would be roughly four times the dividends paid to about 4 million shareholders last year (KRW 11.1 trillion) and would exceed the company’s annual R&D investment of KRW 37.7 trillion.
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
