Samsung Electronics' union criticized for inviting entertainers to rally

DJ NewJeansNim performs during a rally held by the Nationwide Samsung Electronics Union in front of the company's office building in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap

Unionized workers at Samsung Electronics have drawn a severe backlash from investors and their colleagues due to a concert-like rally they held Friday, which several celebrities attended, according to industry officials Sunday.

The Nationwide Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), the largest among the tech giant's multiple unions, invited DJ NewJeansNim, a comedian who dresses like a Buddhist monk, as well as singer Ailee and rock band YB, to the rally in front of their company's office building in Seoul's Gangnam District. The NSEU called for more holidays and pay increases during the rally.

This came a few hours after Reuters reported that Samsung Electronics failed to pass a test of Nvidia's high-bandwidth memory chips. Although the Korean firm immediately denied the news report, its stock price plunged 3.07 percent during Friday's trading session.

Minority shareholders of Samsung Electronics criticized the union for taking collective action amid the company's critical situation.

"The unionized workers should be ashamed of themselves as they have been paid much better than employees at TSMC and other chipmakers," one of the minority shareholders wrote online.

Some Samsung Electronics employees complained about using their union membership fee for entertainers.

"The company is even rumored to be considering reducing its workforce, so the party with entertainers will make the public regard us as a so-called 'aristocratic union,'" one company employee wrote on Blind, an anonymous chat app for verified employees.

Members of the Nationwide Samsung Electronics Union hold a rally in front of the company's office building in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap

Samsung Electronics suffered a 15 trillion won ($11 billion) operating loss from its semiconductor business.

In an apparent attempt to overcome the crisis, the company replaced the head of its semiconductor business on Tuesday. It also recently asked its executives to work six days a week and ordered executives of the networks business division to fly economy during their business trips.

The NSEU, however, has called for a 6 percent hike in wages and an additional day of paid leave. In March, Samsung Electronics' labor-management council decided to increase this year's salaries by 5.1 percent, nearly twice the consumer price inflation.

"We are just asking for fair compensation for our labor," the NSEU chairman said.

Speculation is also growing that the NSEU may be trying to shift to the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) from the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU), as 200 KCTU members were invited to the rally on Friday. The KCTU is considered more militant and political than the FKTU.

"For us to fight with Samsung, it is reasonable for us to collaborate with a powerful organization," the NSEU said last Monday while streaming via YouTube.

However, the union has remained cautious about going on the company's first-ever strike.