From the compliance committee's annual report foreword
"A healthy tension between labor and management must be established for Samsung to reach the global top"
"Samsung would have been impossible without the public's attention and support"
Labor experts recruited as fourth-term committee launched earlier this year
Lee Chan-hee, chairman of Samsung's Compliance Committee, has called for a healthy tension between labor and management, saying the time has come for unions and the company to demonstrate the art of the "three-legged race." The message came after Samsung Electronics concluded a marathon round of negotiations over performance bonuses.
As labor disputes intensified, the committee recruited new members with expertise in labor and human resources when it launched its fourth term earlier this year, strengthening its capacity to oversee compliance management.
In the foreword to the committee's annual report published Friday, Lee said, "For Samsung to reach the global top, a healthy tension must be established between labor and management." He added that the committee had closely monitored the negotiation process for any violations of human rights or compliance principles — not only between labor and management, but also among competing unions.
Samsung Electronics labor and management had long struggled over the funding pool and distribution ratio for performance bonuses. Two rounds of post-mediation by the National Labor Relations Commission failed to produce an agreement, but the two sides finally reached a deal on May 20 after additional negotiations presided over by Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon. During the height of the dispute, a union was also investigated over allegations that it had compiled a blacklist to identify non-union workers.
After the agreement was reached, tensions emerged between unions over the bonus gap between the DS (semiconductor) and DX (finished products) divisions. The Samsung Electronics labor union Donghaeng, centered on the DX division, filed for an injunction to halt a vote on the wage agreement.
"I think running a company is like a three-legged race," Lee said. "If one side moves too fast or too slow, both will fall, so harmony and cooperation are essential." He added, "Now is the time for management and compliance, labor and the company, and Samsung and the public to demonstrate the art of the three-legged race."
Lee also called for mutual respect between the union and the company. "The union seeks to secure and expand the rights of its members, while the company wants to invest in research and development and new fields for stable growth," he said. "Both sides must communicate as best they can to find common ground that satisfies labor and management alike, without tilting toward either."
He said Samsung must also feel a sense of responsibility toward the nationwide public attention the negotiations drew. "Samsung was built on the passion and commitment of all its members, but it would have been impossible without the public's attention and support," Lee said. "The public interest shown during this labor-management agreement process was truly intense."
"We must keep firmly in mind that the public will always judge us sternly by the standards of principle and fairness, and remain humble before the public," he added.
The committee appointed new members with labor expertise when its fourth term launched in February. Kim Kyung-sun, chairwoman of the Korea Retirement Pension Development Institute, and Lee Kyung-mook, a professor of business administration at Seoul National University, joined the committee.
Kim is a labor and women's policy specialist who entered public service after passing the civil service examination and has served as a senior administrator in the presidential office's state affairs planning secretariat, head of planning and coordination at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and vice minister of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. Lee is an expert in corporate organization and human resources management, having served as vice president of the Korean Academic Society of Business Administration and president of the Korean Academy of Management.
In remarks upon her appointment, newly joined member Kim also raised concerns about the so-called Yellow Envelope Act, warning that labor-management conflict could deepen going forward.
"Legislatively expanding the definition of employer is something rarely seen in other countries' legislation, and considerable confusion is expected over the scope and subject of collective bargaining until the courts establish settled interpretations," Kim said. "With the semiconductor industry experiencing an unprecedented boom, union demands are rising sharply over how to distribute returns that have exceeded initial expectations."
"I will do my utmost to uphold the value of compliance management amid internal and external risks — including balancing the diverse interests of corporate stakeholders and building a relationship of trust between labor and management," she added.
jeongwan@heraldcorp.com
