Controversies are mounting around Choi Seung-ho, chairman of the Samsung Electronics chapter of the Supra-Enterprise Union, who has been leading hardline struggles at Samsung Electronics (005930) and has announced a general strike. Resistance is growing even within the union as Choi has taken overseas trips in business class ahead of the strike and permanently expelled members who sought to voice opinions, fueling internal conflict among unions.
According to Samsung Electronics' union on Sunday, Choi took a vacation and traveled abroad in business class after leading a large-scale rally at the Pyeongtaek Campus on June 23.
Last month, Choi led a rally of 40,000 people at the Pyeongtaek Campus, warning that "the company will suffer losses of at least 20 trillion to 30 trillion won in the event of a strike." The day after the union rally, he personally disclosed figures showing that foundry logistics movement had decreased by 58% and some core lines had seen operation rates drop by more than 70%.
However, public antipathy grew when Choi went on vacation after the rally. In particular, the revelation that he had flown business class on his vacation drew criticism from within the union, with some members asking, "Is this the right time for that?" Critics argue that he displayed only the pattern of an "aristocratic struggle," heading to a resort in business class instead of negotiating with management ahead of a general strike that could cause tens of trillions of won in damage to the company, its 4.61 million minority shareholders, and the national economy.
Choi is also known for routinely posting photos on his personal social networking service (SNS) account of his overseas trips in business class to countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Taiwan.
Controversies surrounding Choi's leadership continue. When President Lee Jae-myung recently pointed to Samsung Electronics' union and criticized its "excessive demands," Choi dismissed the remark as being "about LG Uplus," drawing backlash from that company's union and eventually issuing an apology.
Furthermore, it has been confirmed that the withdrawal of Donghaeng, Samsung Electronics' third union, from the Joint Struggle Headquarters on Thursday was triggered by Choi's coercive language and disparaging remarks toward union members. In a recent anonymous chat room, when a member suggested prioritizing the memory business division regarding the direction of the performance bonus struggle, Choi reportedly said, "Are you with the Donghaeng executive? Why are you acting as a mole?" before permanently expelling the member.
The Donghaeng union recently sent an official letter to the Supra-Enterprise Union stating, "You have abused the authority of being the majority union by deliberately ignoring and excluding our union's opinions, and have even continued disparagement amounting to defamation, such as labeling us a company union." The union demanded the "sharing of negotiation progress, management proposals, future schedules, and key issues, as well as an official apology and the cessation of disparaging remarks," hinting at the possibility of filing a corrective application with the Labor Relations Commission and pursuing civil and criminal action.
With the recovery of the semiconductor industry and the competition in artificial intelligence (AI) memory intensifying, the overlap of strike risks and inter-union conflict is adding to Samsung Electronics' burden on production and management stability. In response, Jun Young-hyun, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) division, and Roh Tae-moon, president of the Device Experience (DX) division, posted a message on the company's internal bulletin board on Sunday, stressing, "In this grave global business environment, all executives will take a responsible stance so as not to lose future competitiveness." They added, "The company will continue consultations with an open attitude and strive to find a direction that employees can agree with."
Management also appealed, "We ask all employees to do their best in their respective roles so that our future competitiveness is not lost."
