Prosecutors probe Samsung anti-union allegations
South Korean prosecutors are investigating allegations that Samsung sabotaged efforts to set up labour unions as workers in South Korea push for improved rights under the administration of President Moon Jae-in.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office said it had secured thousands of pages of documents that allegedly show guidelines issued by Samsung to stymie efforts to establish unions.
The documents were obtained in a raid by prosecutors on Samsung Electronics in February as part of inquiries into allegations the group had paid the US legal fees of DAS, a car parts maker run by the family of Lee Myung-bak, former South Korean president, and allegedly owned by him.
“We are aware that prosecutors have secured such documents and are looking into them. We are also checking the details of the documents,” said Samsung.
Labour activists have long criticised the group’s treatment of workers who have tried to unionise.
Lee Jae-myung, a prominent politician from the ruling Democratic party, called for Samsung to be strongly punished if the allegations are proven. “We should move beyond this era of bad behaviour where everything is forgiven if you make money, even if you commit crimes,” he tweeted.
There are few unions in the Samsung empire, which is unusual in a country known for frequent industrial action. The Korea Confederation of Trade Unions held a press conference in front of the group’s headquarters on Tuesday, urging Samsung to be more tolerant of organised labour.
“It is very unusual that a global company such as Samsung is not tolerant of union activities,” said Kim Nam-hui, a lawyer for the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, a civic group. “If it were involved in undermining workers’ rights to form labour unions and so impeded on their free activities, this would be a clear violation of Korean labour laws.”
Samsung said that its companies have “various channels in place to ensure communications with employees. Samsung is committed to complying with all laws and ethical standards, in addition to continuing our dedication to a constructive two-way dialogue between employees and management.”
The probe is the second by Korean prosecutors into concerns that Samsung has acted against unions. They investigated similar allegations after Sim Sang-jeung, an opposition lawmaker, released a 2012 report which, she said, contained guidelines on how to prevent employees from organising unions and dismantle them if they did.
According to a document that Ms Sim released a year later, Samsung instructed employees “to co-operate with human resources to dismantle labour unions as soon as they are created. If they can’t dismantle them early, they should be dissolved through long-term pressure.”
Unionised workers at Samsung Everland, the theme park operator, filed a complaint against Lee Kun-hee, group chairman, and other executives but prosecutors closed the case in 2015 after dropping most charges.
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