Samsung Electronics Obtains Detention Over Union-Busting

On Friday, Samsung Electronics vice-president Kang Kyung-hoon received a 16-month jail term. This is all on allegations of union-busting activities, according to a piece of South Korean technology news.

Kang and others acted to hinder the formation and activities of an independent trade union at affiliate Samsung Everland.

The information was released by an amusement park machinist who is part of Samsung C&T, media reports stated.

One previous executive director received a 10-month jail term, and the person is among the 12 people charged with Kang. Meanwhile, others obtained pending jail terms or in one case, a fine.

Way back in 2016, South Korea’s Supreme Court declared the dismissal of the employees engaged in efforts to form a union at Samsung Everland. It was a harsh sanction, and the firm reinstated them.

Meanwhile, lawyers for Kang and Samsung C&T were not instantly available for comment.

Samsung Electronics refused to comment.

The spokesperson for the Seoul Central District Court could not directly confirm the ruling.

South Korea has robust auto unions. On the flip side, the country’s general union participation rate is around 10%. It is the second-lowest among Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development nations.

The rate is even lower at the Samsung Group.

Kang worked in the conglomerate’s elite strategy office. But he only stayed there until it was separated in 2017 in the wake of a bribery scandal.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Jay Y. Lee is in separate trials. This is for the reason of the bribery scandal concerning former South Korean President Park Geun-Hye.

Last Friday’s case developed from a Monday ruling that jailed three Samsung Elec executives. They were all condemned by concealing evidence in an alleged accounting fraud probe.

Samsung Argues A Retail 1 Million Galaxy Folds

Elsewhere, Samsung’s first folding phone may have been burdened with a fallen launch, reliability troubles, and a nearly $2,000 price tag.

According to Samsung Electronics’ president Young Sohn, the worries haven’t stopped the firm from finding a million people to purchase the Galaxy Fold.

Moreover, Sohn discovered the onstage at TechCrunch’s Disrupt event in Berlin. He stated, “There are a million people that want to use this product at $2,000 each.”

Sohn then followed up to simplify that the company claims to have retailed 1 million units of the Fold.

The one million sales are not very much contrasted to the tens of millions of phones that Samsung and Apple move each quarter.

On the flip side, for a device that is this expensive and unproven, it’s astonishing to gain that much profit.

However, a lot of less significant manufacturers battle to sell a small percentage of that many phones even with much lower prices.