Union says Takeda employees treated unfairly during merger

Aug. 5, 2019

Takeda Pharma's Korean labor union said Takeda employees faced unfair changes in their jobs and roles during the Takeda Korea and Shire Korea merger.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Korea denied the allegation. Since Takeda acquired Shire in a $62 billion takeover last year, their respective Korean offshoots have been merging as well.

According to the labor union, during the reshuffling, unfair moves of jobs and roles, and different incentives to Takeda and Shire employees made Takeda workers feel discriminated. They noted a specific scenario where Shire salespersons received incentives proportional to salary and Takeda workers received incenstives proportional to their sales performance.

But management at Takeda says they aren't done making adjustments. “In Korea, Takeda and Shire are two separate firms. The final merger of the two is expected to occur next year. We will review the consolidation of the two companies’ systems later, following the schedule of the two firms’ merger,” the company said.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Korea’s labor union submitted an application for labor dispute mediation to the National Labor Relations Commission on July 26.

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