Photo : YONHAP News
Anchor: Samsung Electronics’ largest labor union will launch a general strike on Thursday after marathon negotiations with management collapsed. The union said that it had accepted a mediation proposal made by the National Labor Relations Commission, but that management didn’t move. The government is considering invoking an “emergency adjustment” to suspend the planned labor action for 30 days.
Kim Bum-soo has more.
Report: Labor and management at Samsung Electronics failed to resolve their bonus dispute and the company’s nearly 48-thousand unionized workers are now pushing ahead with their planned strike on Thursday.
Union leader Choi Seung-ho announced the decision Wednesday, blaming management for refusing to accept the mediation proposal from the National Labor Relations Commission.
[Sound bite: Samsung Electronics Union Representative (Korean-English)]
“We express deep regret and feel disappointed that the post-mediation adjustment process has concluded without settlement due to delays in decision-making by management. The union plans to go ahead with the strike according to the law.”
“We want to make it clear that even during the strike period, we remain open to dialogue at all times and will not cease our efforts to reach a settlement. Let me repeat that the union agreed to the mediation proposal presented by the National Labor Relations Commission.”
South Korean semiconductor manufacturers have seen their profits surge amid an AI-driven boom in memory chip demand.
However, after Samsung’s smaller rival SK hynix overhauled its wage structure last year to pay significantly higher bonuses to its workers, Samsung’s labor union demanded management take similar measures.
The union wants the company to abolish the cap on bonuses set at 50 percent of annual salaries, allocate 15 percent of annual operating profit to bonuses and institutionalize the bonus structure.
Samsung Electronics said in a statement that the union had insisted on what it called “unacceptable demands” that could damage the company’s management principles.
Some analysts have warned that an 18-day strike could disrupt global supplies of DRAM memory by more than three percent.
Amid growing concerns about the global semiconductor supply, South Korean officials have cautioned that a strike at Samsung could account for nearly a quarter of the nation’s outbound shipments.
The planned strike at Samsung could shave up to a half percentage point off South Korea’s economic growth this year, according to an analysis by the central bank.
The government is considering the option of invoking an “emergency adjustment” to suspend the planned labor action for 30 days.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.