Samsung chairman indicted on anti-union charges

More problems for Samsung executives this week, as chairman Lee Sang-hoon is indicted on union sabotage charges. Lee’s not alone — twenty-seven other Samsung employees and partners are also being hit with similar charges.

The charges are considered a kind of validation after years of concern over the electronics giant’s approach to organized labor. Lee has been in his current role since March, but previously served as Samsung’s CFO. During that time, the top-level executive was reportedly involved in threatening to cut wages and end business dealings with union-friendly contractors.

Lee is, of course, not the only high-level Samsung executive to be hit with legal charges of late. Last year, Vice Chairman and heir apparent Jay Y. Lee was given a five-year prison sentence over charges of bribery, embezzlement and perjury, though that sentence was later suspend and the decision reversed.

Regardless of what happens to these new charges, it seems pretty fair to say that the consumer electronics and chipmaking giant is long overdue for a overhaul among its executive ranks.