Samsung Electronics' largest union, the Samsung Group Supra-Enterprise Labor Union's Samsung branch, has begun collecting signatures for a petition seeking leniency for chairman Choi Seung-ho and others who were referred to prosecutors on charges of violating the Personal Information Protection Act, using union funds for the campaign.
According to industry sources on the 16th, the union began gathering leniency petition signatures from employees in the Device Solutions division, which oversees Samsung Electronics' semiconductor business, starting at 8 a.m. that day.
The union is aiming to secure about 30,000 signatures and has set aside roughly 20 million won for the cost of using an online electronic signature service, according to sources.
Choi and others were recently referred to prosecutors on charges of using Samsung Electronics employees' personal information to compile what has been described as a "union blacklist," which included information on whether employees had joined a union.
The union is said to have pursued the petition drive based on Article 14 of its bylaws, a "status protection" clause. The provision stipulates that when members suffer disadvantages to their status or property in the course of carrying out decisions made by the union's deliberative bodies or legitimate union activities, their status shall be protected and damages may be compensated.
The leniency petition is also seen as a response to the Samsung Electronics Labor Union Donghaeng, which operates mainly in the Device eXperience division and has collected more than 15,000 signatures on a petition calling for severe punishment in the same case.
Donghaeng has taken issue with the fact that a list containing employees' department names, names, employee numbers and union membership status was circulated within the company, and is demanding stern punishment for those involved. It has also called on the company to review how the incident occurred and to establish measures to prevent a recurrence.
Donghaeng plans to hold a rally on the afternoon of the 18th near the Hannam-dong residence of Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee in Seoul's Yongsan district.
