By Park Jin-hai
Merck Korea has been facing protests from its unionized workers as company management refuses to recognize the union.
The labor union claims that what Merck Korea, the Korean unit of the multinational pharmaceutical giant based in Germany, has put on the negotiation table was "rubbish" and the company has constantly discouraged the participation in the union.
The company's union members have been holding a one-man protest in front of the company headquarters in southern Seoul since Oct.12, calling for the company headed by CEO Michael Grund to come to the table in earnest.
The collective agreement submitted by the drug giant for this year failed to mention employees' welfare.
"I have never seen anything like Merck's collective agreement," said Jang Hwan, spokesperson for the Korea Democratic Pharmaceutical Union which includes 90 unionized workers from Merck's, during a phone interview with the Korea Times, Friday. "Unlike others that have multi-page agreements with at least 60 clauses, Merck's was only two pages long, with nine clauses."
He pointed out that the agreement had no single clause ensuring employees' labor activities, but rather included that all working conditions, which are below the industry average, should follow the existing company's employment regulations. "That is tantamount to making the collective agreement just a piece of paper," he added.
Merck Korea workers first organized their union in March, he said, after the company tried to lay off 12 employees without due process, which later was averted.
Since the union began organizing, its activities have been systematically interrupted, while asking for a list of union members during collective bargaining, according to Jang.
The company openly preached that the labor union will bring the demise of the company, calling for members to leave the union, he said.
"A sales director during a seminar said he will turn a deaf ear to the union and tire them out so they will walk out of the union themselves," said Jang.
"We didn't think that the negotiation sessions would solve the problem, so we decided to stage a single-man protest instead."
The union calls for employment security, in which the company should consult with the union before it announces layoffs, as well as official company recognition of union activities.
Cho Young-sok, Merk Korea union leader, echoed Jang's views, saying that the company has been disregarding uinion requests.
"Even though the management has become more willing to talk with us following our protest, it hasn't accepted any of our demands," Cho said.
However, the company refuted union claims, saying it's been doing everything it can to narrow differences with unionized workers.
"We have been faithfully talking with the union leadership," a company spokeswoman said. "The management will take all possible measures to come to an agreement with unionized workers."
Merck is faced with six to seven sessions of working-level negotiations before the high-level talk on Dec. 1.
However, if the company doesn't show the willingness to settle the issue, the union said it will file for mediation with the regional labor relations commission.
If the commission takes the side of the union and the company disagrees with its decision, the union can stage a strike.
Merck Korea has been facing protests from its unionized workers as company management refuses to recognize the union.
The labor union claims that what Merck Korea, the Korean unit of the multinational pharmaceutical giant based in Germany, has put on the negotiation table was "rubbish" and the company has constantly discouraged the participation in the union.
The company's union members have been holding a one-man protest in front of the company headquarters in southern Seoul since Oct.12, calling for the company headed by CEO Michael Grund to come to the table in earnest.
The collective agreement submitted by the drug giant for this year failed to mention employees' welfare.
"I have never seen anything like Merck's collective agreement," said Jang Hwan, spokesperson for the Korea Democratic Pharmaceutical Union which includes 90 unionized workers from Merck's, during a phone interview with the Korea Times, Friday. "Unlike others that have multi-page agreements with at least 60 clauses, Merck's was only two pages long, with nine clauses."
He pointed out that the agreement had no single clause ensuring employees' labor activities, but rather included that all working conditions, which are below the industry average, should follow the existing company's employment regulations. "That is tantamount to making the collective agreement just a piece of paper," he added.
Merck Korea workers first organized their union in March, he said, after the company tried to lay off 12 employees without due process, which later was averted.
Since the union began organizing, its activities have been systematically interrupted, while asking for a list of union members during collective bargaining, according to Jang.
The company openly preached that the labor union will bring the demise of the company, calling for members to leave the union, he said.
"A sales director during a seminar said he will turn a deaf ear to the union and tire them out so they will walk out of the union themselves," said Jang.
"We didn't think that the negotiation sessions would solve the problem, so we decided to stage a single-man protest instead."
The union calls for employment security, in which the company should consult with the union before it announces layoffs, as well as official company recognition of union activities.
Cho Young-sok, Merk Korea union leader, echoed Jang's views, saying that the company has been disregarding uinion requests.
"Even though the management has become more willing to talk with us following our protest, it hasn't accepted any of our demands," Cho said.
However, the company refuted union claims, saying it's been doing everything it can to narrow differences with unionized workers.
"We have been faithfully talking with the union leadership," a company spokeswoman said. "The management will take all possible measures to come to an agreement with unionized workers."
Merck is faced with six to seven sessions of working-level negotiations before the high-level talk on Dec. 1.
However, if the company doesn't show the willingness to settle the issue, the union said it will file for mediation with the regional labor relations commission.
If the commission takes the side of the union and the company disagrees with its decision, the union can stage a strike.
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