Lee Gyu-lee is a business writer at The Korea Times, focusing primarily on IT & telecommunications, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and KOTRA. Prior to this, she has covered a wide range of cultural news, from film, television and K-pop to lifestyle and fashion.
Samsung Electronics union releases English collective bargaining agreement
Members of the National Samsung Electronics Union stage a rally at the company's plant in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, July 8, 2024. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon
By Lee Gyu-lee
The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), the second-largest workers' union of Samsung Electronics, for the first time issued an English translation of the collective bargaining agreement signed on March 5, 2025.
The union announced Thursday that it has completed the agreement's translation and distributed it to all Samsung Electronics employees.
Until now, the agreement was only available in Korean, making it difficult for the company’s foreign employees to fully grasp the agreement’s provisions, including key employment terms, benefits and workplace protections.
The initiative intends to ensure that foreign employees can clearly understand their terms and conditions of employment and their labor rights, the NSEU said.
“Publishing the collective bargaining agreement in English lays the groundwork for eliminating blind spots in the working conditions of foreign employees at Samsung Electronics,” the union’s acting chair Woo Ha-kyung said. “NSEU will serve as a reliable safeguard for foreign employees as well.”
Capture image of an English collective agreement signed between Samsung Electronics and National Samsung Electronics Union / Courtesy of National Samsung Electronics Union
The translation was carried out by attorney Park Jong‑in at law firm Gangnam, who specializes in intellectual property, labor and employment law.
“Traditionally, union activities in Korea have tended to be centered on domestic employees,” Park said. “I hope this translation serves as an initial step toward strengthening protections for foreign workers’ rights. And in that sense, this translation project was both meaningful and rewarding.”
NSEU added that it plans to continue developing and implementing initiatives aimed at protecting and advancing the labor rights of foreign employees at the company.
NSEU, which has more than 22,400 members as of Thursday, is one of Samsung Electronics' five labor unions. It was the largest labor union until October last year, when Samsung Electronics Supra-Enterprise Labor Union claimed to have secured more than 27,500 members to become the largest.
Samsung Electronics has remained open to global hires across its operations. According to statistics in the company's management report last year, of about 262,000 employees worldwide, more than half, or about 137,000, are based overseas. Within Korea, the company and its affiliates have also been scouting foreign professionals, launching a dedicated recruitment program in 2023 for foreigners who want to work in Korea.
Last May, 10 of the group’s affiliates, including Samsung Electronics and Samsung Biologics, ran a recruitment for experienced foreign hires, seeking research and development experts across areas such as circuit design, semiconductors, software development and manufacturing science and technology.