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Final-stage negotiations between Samsung Electronics and its union have slipped into a protracted stalemate. The Central Labor Relations Commission has put forward options intended to encourage a voluntary settlement, and attention is focused on whether management will accept them. If the parties cannot reach a deal, the commission is expected to issue a mediation proposal.
On May 20, Samsung Electronics and the union convened the second day of the second post-adjustment session at the Central Labor Relations Commission in the Sejong Government Complex. The meeting, which began at 10 a.m. the previous day, has stretched on.
The commission had said it would wait until about 10 p.m. the previous night for a decision. Park Soo-geun, the commission chair, told reporters he expected either an agreement or the release of a mediation proposal by that hour, and that the commission would submit a plan if no agreement was reached.
The key question is whether management will accept the options Park proposed. If Samsung accepts, the union would put the proposed terms to a membership vote. Park noted several variables remain: management must acknowledge the terms, and the union must decide to submit them to a vote.
If Samsung rejects the commission’s suggestion, the commission will present a compromise mediation plan. Even after a plan is issued, the parties can return to the negotiating table over its terms. If both sides accept the commission’s plan, it would carry the same legal effect as a collective bargaining agreement.
But if either side rejects the plan, talks will collapse. A commission official said the meeting was running longer than planned and that the commission was reviewing several options before issuing a proposal. Park added that \”there are a few things we still need to check\” and declined to elaborate.
During the first post-adjustment session, Samsung and the union also negotiated past midnight but failed to reach a deal. The union has said it will launch a general strike beginning May 21 if post-adjustment mediation fails this time.
The government is also weighing whether to invoke emergency mediation powers if a Samsung union strike materializes, given the semiconductor sector’s outsized role in South Korea’s export-driven economy. Labor groups, however, strongly oppose such a move.
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