Samsung Electronics issued a rare apology on Wednesday, a day after a Seoul court jailed its chairman for undermining unions. “We humbly accept that the companies’ understanding and view towards labour unions in the past fell short of society’s expectations,” said a joint statement from the electronics maker and its construction affiliate, Samsung C&T, which has also had executives convicted under union laws. They promised no repeat and said they would “endeavour to build a forward-looking and productive labour-management relationship based on the respect for our employees.”
The ruling itself came on Tuesday. Seoul Central District Court sentenced chairman Lee Sang-hoon to 18 months in prison. About 25 other defendants were convicted alongside him of breaking labour union laws, though the scope of each person’s charges differed. TRT World reported that Lee, who had been on bail through the trial, was taken into custody immediately. Executive vice president Kang Kyung-hoon was convicted with him.
What prosecutors said was done
The case centered on Samsung’s customer service unit and a drive to deter staff there from running a union. In 2013 Lee was chief financial officer. He and Kang both sat on the Future Strategy Office, since disbanded, which was the company’s key decision-making body. The court said executives in that group masterminded the plans.
Prosecutors said subordinates were ordered to cut union members’ wages and to find and use details of their private lives, including pregnancies and debt, to pressure them to leave. Sub-contracted firms with active unions were shut down. Negotiations between unions and management were delayed. The court said “countless documents” laying out such methods were passed to affiliates by the strategy office.
Lee had denied the charges. He argued he knew little about many areas, but the judge, according to Yonhap news agency, said the court could not give him immunity only because he “was not aware of the peripheral areas.” Samsung Electronics declined to say whether the men would appeal.
A break with the founder’s line
Samsung fought union representation hard for decades. Founder Lee Byung-chul, who died in 1987, vowed to allow no unions “until I have dirt over my eyes.” Only last month did authorities in Suwon, where the company is headquartered, certify the National Samsung Electronics Union.
Vladimir Tikhonov, a professor of Korean Studies at the University of Oslo, said the verdict showed the long refusal to recognise unions was “antiquated” even by South Korean standards. In his words, the court was telling Samsung to “get smarter, stop old-style union-busting.” Park Sang-in, a professor at Seoul National University, told Reuters the ruling was “a further signal of change for the South Korean judicial system, which previously gave lenient sentences to convicted businessmen.”
Lee is not a member of the controlling family. Its scion, vice-chairman Lee Jae-yong, was jailed for bribery and embezzlement in the scandal that brought down president Park Geun-hye, then largely cleared on appeal. He is back on trial after the Supreme Court ordered new proceedings. Samsung Electronics shares closed down 0.71 percent in Seoul on Wednesday.
Sources
- Samsung chairman Lee Sang-hoon jailed for union sabotage
- TRT World – Samsung chairman jailed for union sabotage
