Choi Seung-ho, chairman of the Samsung chapter of the Cho Gi-eop Union, the largest labor union at Samsung Electronics, purchased about 300 million won worth of goods, including rally vests, from a company run by his father-in-law. On the 9th, Choi acknowledged that the head of the supplier is his father-in-law but said the purchase was "carried out after comparing contract terms such as price and delivery schedules" and that "there was no financial gain." Controversy over family favoritism and conflict of interest is nonetheless intense. Choi and five other Samsung union officials had already been referred to prosecutors on charges of drawing up a "union blacklist," and now that questions have arisen over the transparency of union operations as well, the union leadership's conduct — repeatedly straying across legal and ethical lines — has come under scrutiny.
The Cho Gi-eop Union earlier led the push for a "general strike in May" at Samsung Electronics and pressed for an "N% performance bonus" that infringes on corporate freedom of business. Having already drawn public anger for putting the national economy on the line in pursuit of its own interests, the union now faces allegations that its chairman funneled work to his father-in-law's company using dues paid by members, and that he extracted the personal data of more than 100,000 members to compile a "blacklist" identifying those opposed to the strike. Such conduct amounts to undermining the union's own legitimacy. On top of this, suspicions have surfaced that some employees in Samsung Electronics' semiconductor division, who receive large performance bonuses, improperly claimed monthly rent subsidies provided by the company. The moral hazard pervading Samsung's unions is serious.
The three labor rights — the right to organize, to bargain collectively and to take collective action — are constitutional rights meant to guarantee workers a decent life. The role of unions in supplementing the weak bargaining power of individual workers and in protecting their rights and jobs deserves legal protection. But when a union whose members earn high wages demands an even larger share while eroding a company's sustainability, and when a particular group pursues unfair gains at the expense of the interests of all workers, the union must be seen as having lost its essential function. Still worse, if illegal and unlawful acts pursued by any means, along with misconduct entangled with personal interests, are repeated until members' trust collapses, there is no reason for the union to exist. Samsung's unions urgently need to clean up their own house — rooting out widespread irregularities and misconduct and restoring fairness and transparency.
