On 19 April 2021, the Korea Democratic Pharmaceutical Union (KDPU) announced that a lawsuit was being filed against Zuellig Pharma Solutions Service Korea (SSK) for unfair dismissal.
The business had been making an operating loss, and the company announced it was using its early retirement programme to lay off staff on 31 March 2021. The staff members concerned were all members of the company’s workers’ union, who had gone on strike on 30 October 2020 over a pay dispute. Management had previously acknowledged that pay was below the industry average. It failed to improve the business, however, and called for a pay freeze. No progress was made in negotiations with the union, and mediation with the Seoul Regional Labour Relations Commission failed. The branch union leader was suspended, apparently in the hope of avoiding a strike. The company then also suspended the general secretary and finance officer, which triggered the two-week protest strike.
In December the company announced it would be closing the patient care unit that the strikers worked in, even though that team had been making a profit. The announcement of the redundancies and early retirement followed.
