Choi Seung-ho, head of the Samsung Electronics chapter of the Samsung Group United Union, leaves the Sejong Government Complex in the early hours of May 20 after mediation talks scheduled for May 19 ended without a deal. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
Samsung Electronics and its union will return to the negotiating table at 10 a.m. Wednesday, after two days of deadlocked marathon talks failed to avert the threat of a general strike.
Despite a last-minute push for a breakthrough during talks that stretched across Monday and Tuesday, Samsung Electronics management and labor once again failed to reach an agreement.
The two sides
reportedly remained divided over how to distribute performance-based incentives. Management and labor agreed to resume post-mediation talks on Wednesday, a day before the scheduled general strike.
Tuesday's talks continued until past midnight, stretching on for more than 14 hours, according to the National Labor Relations Commission. The session had originally been scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday.
The commission serves as a state mediation body under the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
The commission presented management with a proposal to encourage a voluntary settlement during Tuesday’s talks. After reviewing the proposal for about three hours, Samsung Electronics management resumed talks with the union, though the negotiations again ended without a breakthrough.
Park Soo-keun, chair of the National Labor Relations Commission, speaks to reporters at the Sejong Government Complex on May 20. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]
“The two parties have reached consensus on most issues, but one key matter remains unsettled,” said Park Soo-keun, chair of the National Labor Relations Commission.
Samsung Electronics and the union have clashed over a range of issues, including scrapping the bonus ceiling, setting aside a fixed portion of operating profit for bonus payouts and institutionalizing the bonus scheme.
Park’s comments indicate that substantial progress may have been made after the commission laid out both a framework for voluntary talks and a formal mediation proposal, observers said.
The remaining point of contention cited by Park is believed to be the ratio used to distribute the bonus pool. The union has demanded that 15 percent of operating profit be set aside for bonuses and distributed under a scheme of “70 percent for division-wide, 30 percent for business-unit.”
Under the proposal, 70 percent of the semiconductor division’s bonus pool would be distributed equally across all business units, while the remaining 30 percent would be given in a tiered scheme according to individual units’ performance.
Management, however, has opposed the plan, arguing that an excessively large shared pool would undermine the principle of merit-based pay by allowing employees in underperforming units to receive payouts similar to those in profitable business units.
The company has instead proposed an alternative scheme of “40 percent for division-wide, 60 percent for business-unit.”
“Either an agreement will be reached, or mediated settlements are likely to take place,” Park said. “Whether the dispute is resolved through a negotiated settlement or a formal mediation proposal will be decided on Wednesday morning.”
Samsung Electronics' unionized laborers stage a rally in Pyeongtaek in Gyeonggi on April 23. [NEWS1]
Even if management and labor reach an agreement during Wednesday’s additional talks, risks remain.
Any mediation proposal must undergo a vote by the unionized workers, an action that requires approval at the union's general assembly, according to a representative from the conglomerate's cross-affiliate union.
If union members reject the proposal, negotiations could return to square one.
With the general strike scheduled for Thursday, time is also running short to hold a vote, even if a mediation plan is finalized.
“Today’s [referring to Tuesday] post-mediation talks were prorogued, and both sides agreed to resume at 10 a.m. tomorrow,” said Choi Seung-ho, the head of the Samsung Electronics chapter of the Samsung Group United Union. “The cross-affiliate union will remain at the National Labor Relations Commission in preparation for Wednesday’s session.”
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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