KDPU-affiliated labor union at MSD Korea begins to dissolve

MSD Korea branch of the Korea Democratic Pharmaceutical Union (KDPU) said it has begun the procedure for dissolution less than three years after becoming the 17th KDPU branch in November 2018.

Accordingly, the other representative bargaining unit will be the only labor union at MSD Korea.

The MSD Korea branch of the KDPU said it decided to disband at a general meeting on Friday.

Out of the 45 voters (turnout at 91 percent), 43 voted for the dissolution of the union and the two against it. The MSD Korea branch’s emergency response committee said it would change its name to “dissolution committee” and start preparing for the breakup.

KDPU’s branch at MSD Korea was the company’s first labor union established in November 2018. At the time, it negotiated with the management as the single labor union.

However, in December 2019, an internal conflict within the KDPU’s branch made most of its members, except for the branch leader, leave the union. They formed a new trade union, and the old KDPU branch became a minority union.

MSD Korea branch of the Korea Democratic Pharmaceutical Union (KDPU) said it decided to dissolve in a general meeting on Friday.

About 80 percent of the old KDPU’s MSD Korea branch moved to the new union. This made the new union become a majority union and secure the representative bargaining right.

As the new labor union negotiated well to help employees transfer to the spinoff company, Organon Korea received continued employment and incentives and successfully reached a collective agreement with the management. The KDPU’s MSD Korea branch rarely had a role, industry sources said.

Also, the leader of the KDPU’s MSD Korea branch was transferred to Organon Korea, the remaining union members decided to disband instead of selecting a new leader.

Most members of the old MSD Korea branch are expected to join the representative labor group, and this will reinforce the power of the unified labor union, observers said.

MSD Korea’s labor union is in fierce disagreement with the management over the company’s plan to change rules on marketing activities.

After expanding the Self-Assurance Program (SAP) to monitor physicians’ conversations during product briefings, the company recently said it would ban salespersons from having one-on-one meetings with doctors.

However, the labor union criticized the company’s plan vehemently.

While the management said the plan was part of operating an ethical company that meets social expectations, the labor union said it resulted from the incompetence of the executives at the Korean offshoot.

As a member of the Korea Research-based Pharma Industry Association (KRPIA), the trade union said the employees were complying with the global standards set by the KRPIA.

However, no KRPIA member is operating SAP and banning one-on-one meetings, except for MSD Korea, it claimed.

The Korean subsidiary of MSD is pushing for such plans because it failed to persuade the headquarters about the specificity of the Korean market, the union said.

Industry officials pay attention to whether the unified labor union at MSD Korea could successfully block the company from changing the product briefing rules.