Samsung Electronics Labor Negotiations: Will the Upcoming Strike Be Averted?

Translation resultSamsung Electronics’ management and labor representatives concluded a second post-adjustment mediation session on the 18th. With a general strike scheduled for the 21st, the two sides entered what amounted to a final bargaining round but produced no clear breakthrough. They agreed to resume talks at 10 a.m. on the 19th.According to the Central Labor Relations Commission (CLRC) and industry sources, the mediation began at 10 a.m. and ended around 6:20 p.m. CLRC Chair Park Soo-geun personally led the process. On his way into the office that morning, Park told reporters, “I will make sure the Samsung union doesn’t strike. I’ll do my best,” signaling an active push to prevent a walkout.Park said both sides set out their basic positions during the morning session, and the talks moved into substantive negotiation in the afternoon. Ahead of the afternoon meeting he told reporters they were still “at the stage of hearing basic positions,” and when asked whether the talks could be completed that day he replied, “No.”The parties continued discussions throughout the day but reported little progress. Park said they agreed to continue meetings through the next day and added that “dialogue is happening,” though he could not say how much the gap between the sides had narrowed.The primary dispute centers on bonus-payment rules. The union has demanded removal of the cap on performance bonuses and the institutionalization of a system that awards 15% of operating profit as bonuses. Management has rejected both removing the cap and formalizing that system. As an alternative, it proposed that if semiconductor operating profit exceeds 200 trillion KRW (approximately 150 billion USD), the company would allocate an additional 9–10% of operating profit separately from OPI (excess-profit performance pay).After the mediation ended, both sides declined to discuss negotiation progress. Samsung negotiator and Vice President Yeo Myung-gu declined to answer reporters’ questions and left quickly. Choi Seung-ho, chair of the Samsung Electronics branch of the cross-company Samsung Group union, told reporters the union “is negotiating in good faith and will attend the extended session at 10 a.m. tomorrow.”Park emphasized that the meeting was held behind closed doors and answered “I don’t know” to most questions, though he said the two sides were not simply running in parallel with no movement. Park Jung-beom, head of CLRC mediation, said both sides refrained from speaking because the meeting was private and that he had nothing to disclose about its content. On the prospects for a deal, he said the parties engaged actively and that “we’ll have to see tomorrow’s meeting.”When asked why the session ended at 6:20 p.m. rather than the scheduled 7 p.m., Park called that “a good thing,” saying it showed the meeting proceeded smoothly. He declined to say whether the sides were finding common ground, citing confidentiality.Earlier, from the 11th into the early hours of the 13th, the parties held marathon talks under CLRC mediation but failed to close gaps over bonus-payment criteria.