A Korean court has partially sided with Samsung Biologics in a dispute over strike actions, approving financial penalties if the labor union instructs workers to halt certain key finishing processes, adding pressure ahead of possible further industrial action.
The Incheon District Court has ordered Samsung Biologics’ labor union to pay 20 million won for each prohibited instruction to halt key finishing processes during a strike. (Credit: Samsung Biologics)
According to legal and industry sources on Friday, the Incheon District Court partially granted Samsung Biologics’ indirect enforcement request against the Samsung Biologics labor union the previous day.
The court ruled that the union must not instruct members or distribute guidelines telling them to stop core finishing processes during a strike. If the union violates the order, it must pay Samsung Biologics 20 million won ($14,500) for each act of instructing workers to halt the court-restricted processes or distributing related guidelines.
Samsung Biologics had requested the court to set the penalty at 100 million won per prohibited act, but the court accepted only part of the company’s request.
The processes covered by the latest decision are three of the nine operations Samsung Biologics had previously sought to protect through an injunction against strike activity. They include concentration and buffer exchange, drug substance filling, and buffer preparation and supply linked to the first two processes.
The decision follows an earlier injunction in which the court barred the union from instructing workers to stop certain essential operations during the strike period based on the union’s March 29 vote in favor of industrial action.
At the time, the court rejected Samsung Biologics’ request for indirect enforcement, saying it was difficult to assume that the union would violate the injunction while risking criminal punishment. However, the company later reapplied for indirect enforcement after disputes continued over whether union guidance on annual leave and obligations related to overtime and holiday work constituted violations of the injunction.
The court said the dispute surrounding collective bargaining had not ended and that there remained a significant gap between the two sides on how to interpret the injunction and the boundaries of permissible strike activity.
“As the dispute may intensify going forward, there is a likelihood that the union could violate the injunction, satisfying the requirements for indirect enforcement,” the court said.
It added that the amount of the penalty was determined by considering the potential damages Samsung Biologics could suffer from a violation of the injunction, as well as the union’s interests and revenue structure.
According to industry sources, the union notified members of strike participation through a “strike guideline procedure” sent on April 27, and about 300 employees assigned to areas subject to strike restrictions participated in the strike. The two sides have since remained at odds over whether the union’s instructions violated the court’s earlier decision.
An industry source said the union should be more cautious about a second strike, as both the injunction and the indirect enforcement order had been accepted in consideration of the importance of biopharmaceutical production.
“If the union violates the court decision and causes production disruption, the legal and social responsibility will fall entirely on the union,” the source said.
Lee Han-soo
댓글
0