Zuellig Pharma Solutions Services Korea (SSK), an affiliated company with Zuellig Pharma Korea, has been embroiled in civil and criminal lawsuits over allegations of unfair labor practices and layoffs for over a year.
While the Korean judiciary system has yet to decide on the matter, SSK CEO Erwan Vilfeu is scheduled to leave Korea on July 1. Vilfeu is also CEO of Zuellig Pharma Korea.
The Korea Democratic Pharmaceutical Union (KDPU) criticized the government for “helping” Vilfeu avoid taking responsibility for labor issues.
On Monday, KDPU held a news conference to update the legal fights of its SSK branch and urge the government agencies to take legal actions against the management of the company.
The conflict between SSK’s labor union and management intensified in October 2020 when the management insisted on freezing salaries while the labor demanded an increase. In the same month, the labor announced that it would go on a strike.
The management, however, took disciplinary action against the head of the SSK’s labor union and ordered him to wait for a new job assignment for “bullying in the workplace” on Oct. 15, 2020. The company also decided on the labor union’s secretary-general and the accountant on October 30, 2020.
“The timing of the company’s action came right before the strike,” a member of the SSK’s labor union said. “It was an intention to separate the labor union leaders from the union members and weaken the threat of the strike.”
The labor union member noted that the head of the Patient Care unit, the direct supervisor of the three leaders of the labor union, reported their alleged workplace bullying to the management.
At the time, all employees at the Patient Care division consisted of trade union members, except for the head. Later, the company shut down the division, and all workers had to face early retirement or layoff. This was a “clear persecution of labor workers,” the union argued.
The company moved the head of the Patient Care division to the head of the logistics center of Zuellig Pharma Korea.
“The company violated the labor-management joint investigation procedure for harassment in the workplace, stipulated in the collective bargaining agreement, and notified of disciplinary action based on the unilateral investigation result of the investigation committee composed of lawyers belonging to an external legal firm,” a member of the SSK labor union said.
The management laid off the union head, suspended the secretary-general for two months, and cut the two-month wages of the accountant. He added that the company’s actions used accusations of harassment in the workplace as a tool to expel the union leaders from the company.
On Dec. 22, 2020, SSK notified of the layoff of the Patient Care unit and forced the workers to apply for the early retirement program (ERP). As of March 31, 2021, the company closed the unit and dismissed all of the labor union members under the Patient Care Unit.
Out of the 20 labor union workers, 18 filed a civil lawsuit to nullify the company’s “unfair” decision on the layoffs in April 2021. The first trial is expected to be held at the end of this year.
KDPU also filed a criminal lawsuit with the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s western Seoul office against the management’s unfair labor practices, such as a standby order for the SSK labor union leaders, and is waiting for the Seoul Western District Prosecutors Office’s decision on indictment.
“A year and a half have passed since we filed a criminal complaint, but the judicial decision has been delayed so far. Therefore, when SSK CEO Erwan Vilfeu leaves Korea on July 1, the judiciary system will not be able to hold him accountable due to a suspension of an indictment,” a member of the SSK’s trade union said.
“This is how the Korean government agencies are helping a foreign company’s head to evade responsibility,” he added.
KPDU will pressure the National Assembly into making a law, raise issues using the media, and request special labor supervision from the employment and labor ministry, he said.