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Interesting strategy. As employee leave is used, this won't cost the union a dime in strike payouts. Is it really a strike at that point? The company can just

Interesting strategy. As employee leave is used, this won't cost the union a dime in strike payouts. Is it really a strike at that point? The company can just revoke leave in the future and call the bluff. Then they'll have to take unpaid leave and risk their jobs for real.

Retric 2y ago
Different countries have different rules, The company is ultimately limited in how much they can punish the entire workforce without people quitting in mass for other work. Thus the inherent power of unions to negotiate.
- dsalfdslfdsa 2y ago
  Samsung makes up nearly a quarter of South Korea's GDP. I imagine this has a significant impact on the viability of quitting for other work.
  - Retric 2y ago
    Samsung has 0.1 million employees in SK out of a population of 52 million. It’s big, but that also makes it more difficult for them to replace people who quit.
    - dsalfdslfdsa 2y ago
      Given the infamous demand for jobs at Samsung, this is a very one-sided negotiation.
      - Retric 2y ago
        Sure, but that’s at their current ultra low turnover rate. If conditions are actually bad enough for people to be leaving it suddenly becomes much harder to recruit skilled people locally. Especially when there is news coverage of what’s happening.
  - Sayrus 2y ago
    While the chaebols represent a huge part of the South Korean's GDP, they account for only a small part of the jobs in the country. Whether leaving them for another job is easy, that I don't know. Depending on the country's culture, leaving could also be very bad for future prospects.
tivert 2y ago
> Interesting strategy. As employee leave is used, this won't cost the union a dime in strike payouts. > Is it really a strike at that point? IMHO, yes. A strike is about coordinated employee action to to disrupt employer operations. How strikers get paid while doing it is totally irrelevant. > The company can just revoke leave in the future and call the bluff. Then they'll have to take unpaid leave and risk their jobs for real. Which would be a massively shitty move on the company's part, and likely to motivate more employees to join the union. After all, getting all your leave canceled is a pretty material reduction in working conditions. Literally, "the beatings will continue until morale improves."
bee_rider 2y ago
I’m slightly confused by this. They say they are using their leave, but what if management says… no? I mean, it isn’t a strike if they are asking management, but I don’t see how they can say they are using their leave without approval.
- danaris 2y ago
  Not every country has such terrible worker protections that workers require management approval for any time off they want to take. I have no idea what the relevant protections are like in Korea, but assuming that all workers always require management approval of fully-accrued paid time off is not always safe.
- tivert 2y ago
  > I’m slightly confused by this. They say they are using their leave, but what if management says… no? I mean, it isn’t a strike if they are asking management, but I don’t see how they can say they are using their leave without approval. IIRC, this exact tactic happens in the US, but it uses sick time and is called a "sick out." I suppose that's because management can't realistically can't deny approval for an illness to infect you, so sick time can't be subject to the same kind of control as other leave.

Retric 2y ago

Different countries have different rules, The company is ultimately limited in how much they can punish the entire workforce without people quitting in mass for other work. Thus the inherent power of unions to negotiate.

dsalfdslfdsa 2y ago
Samsung makes up nearly a quarter of South Korea's GDP. I imagine this has a significant impact on the viability of quitting for other work.
- Retric 2y ago
  Samsung has 0.1 million employees in SK out of a population of 52 million. It’s big, but that also makes it more difficult for them to replace people who quit.
  - dsalfdslfdsa 2y ago
    Given the infamous demand for jobs at Samsung, this is a very one-sided negotiation.
    - Retric 2y ago
      Sure, but that’s at their current ultra low turnover rate. If conditions are actually bad enough for people to be leaving it suddenly becomes much harder to recruit skilled people locally. Especially when there is news coverage of what’s happening.
- Sayrus 2y ago
  While the chaebols represent a huge part of the South Korean's GDP, they account for only a small part of the jobs in the country. Whether leaving them for another job is easy, that I don't know. Depending on the country's culture, leaving could also be very bad for future prospects.

tivert 2y ago

> Interesting strategy. As employee leave is used, this won't cost the union a dime in strike payouts. > Is it really a strike at that point? IMHO, yes. A strike is about coordinated employee action to to disrupt employer operations. How strikers get paid while doing it is totally irrelevant. > The company can just revoke leave in the future and call the bluff. Then they'll have to take unpaid leave and risk their jobs for real. Which would be a massively shitty move on the company's part, and likely to motivate more employees to join the union. After all, getting all your leave canceled is a pretty material reduction in working conditions. Literally, "the beatings will continue until morale improves."

bee_rider 2y ago

I’m slightly confused by this. They say they are using their leave, but what if management says… no? I mean, it isn’t a strike if they are asking management, but I don’t see how they can say they are using their leave without approval.

danaris 2y ago
Not every country has such terrible worker protections that workers require management approval for any time off they want to take. I have no idea what the relevant protections are like in Korea, but assuming that all workers always require management approval of fully-accrued paid time off is not always safe.
tivert 2y ago
> I’m slightly confused by this. They say they are using their leave, but what if management says… no? I mean, it isn’t a strike if they are asking management, but I don’t see how they can say they are using their leave without approval. IIRC, this exact tactic happens in the US, but it uses sick time and is called a "sick out." I suppose that's because management can't realistically can't deny approval for an illness to infect you, so sick time can't be subject to the same kind of control as other leave.