Samsung Electronics' largest union urges withdrawal of local voucher wage bill

Samsung Electronics' largest labor union on Friday called for the withdrawal of a proposed revision to the Labor Standards Act that would allow employers to pay part of workers' wages with local gift certificates, arguing that the bill undermines the principle that wages should be paid in legal currency.

According to a wage agreement reached in May, employees in Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) Division could receive performance-based incentives of up to 600 million won ($397,000) each if earnings meet expectations, while employees in the Device eXperience (DX) Division, the company's consumer electronics business, are expected to receive company shares worth about 6 million won.

The Samsung Electronics Labor Union (SELU) criticized proposed legislation, introduced Wednesday by Rep.

Park Min-kyu of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, which would amend the Labor Standards Act to allow employers to pay part of workers' wages, including performance bonuses, in local gift certificates or other non-cash forms with employees' explicit consent or under a collective bargaining agre ...