Samsung Electronics building in Seocho District, southern Seoul on May 10 [NEWS1]
A large-scale strike is looming over Korea’s largest chipmaker after negotiations between Samsung Electronics and its labor union failed to reach an agreement on Friday. The union rejected management’s renewed compensation proposal and said further talks would have to wait “until after the general strike.”
Samsung Electronics' management reiterated its proposal to let employees choose between 10 percent of operating profit and economic value added for the employee-operating profit incentive (OPI) system in an official notice sent to the Samsung Electronics chapter of the Samsung Group United Union on Friday.
In response to the union’s demand to abolish the current bonus cap, the company also proposed what it described as a “flexible institutionalization” plan that would keep the existing OPI framework while introducing a separate special compensation program.
The company had proposed a special management bonus equal to 12 percent of the company's operating profit on top of the OPI ceiling if Samsung's semiconductor division secures the industry’s top spot this year.
“Let's talk again in order to meet the expectations of employees, shareholders and the public,” Samsung Electronics' management stated, emphasizing its willingness to continue negotiations.
Choi Seung-ho, center, head of Samsung Electronics' largest labor union, leaves the Suwon District Court in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on May 13 after attending a hearing on the company's request for an injunction against a strike. [YONHAP]
The union, however, dismissed the proposal, saying it's just a repetition of the previous proposal.
“We are willing to hold discussions after June 7 [when the strike ends],” Choi Seung-ho, head of the Samsung Electronics chapter of the Samsung Group United Union, said. “We will exercise the rights guaranteed under the Constitution.”
“It's hard to believe the management's proposal was drafted with us [the workers] in consideration,” Choi added. “Negotiations can continue after the strike ends.”
Members of Samsung Electronics' labor union hold a large-scale rally near the company’s Pyeongtaek campus in Gyeonggi, on April 23. [JOONGANG ILBO]
The union plans to launch an 18-day general strike starting Thursday through June 7. Union officials claim as many as 50,000 members could participate.
Samsung Electronics and the union had previously continued negotiations and post-mediation talks through the National Labor Relations Commission, but failed to narrow differences over reforms to the company’s bonus and compensation structure.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
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