Samsung, Union to Resume Bonus Talks Five Days After Breakdown

Samsung Electronics and its union will resume talks on May 18

Atmosphere shifted after Chairman Lee Jae-yong returned to South Korea

Union says it will strike from May 21 if negotiations fail

Samsung Electronics Co. and its labor union will resume negotiations to resolve a dispute over performance bonuses.

Samsung Electronics and its union are scheduled to hold fresh talks at 10 a.m. on May 18 at the National Labor Relations Commission, the state labor mediation body. The meeting comes five days after the union declared post-mediation negotiations had collapsed on May 13.

The path back to the table was uneven. Samsung executives, including Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jun Young-hyun, visited the office of the umbrella labor union at the company's Pyeongtaek campus in Gyeonggi Province on May 15 to ask for talks to resume, but the union refused. Conditions for renewed dialogue improved after Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon stepped in to mediate. Kim met union leader Choi Seung-ho on May 15 and Samsung management on May 16. During that process, Choi demanded that Samsung replace its lead bargaining representative. Samsung then switched the role from Vice President Kim Hyung-ro to Yeo Myung-gu, head of the People Team.

A key turning point came after remarks by Lee. Returning early from an overseas business trip on May 16, the Samsung chairman told reporters at the airport that "we are one body, one family" and appealed for employees to "wisely combine our strength and move in one direction." He added that he would "take the harsh wind and rain" and "take all the blame," urging staff to do their best so they could take pride in being part of Samsung. The union accepted the offer to resume talks, saying it may take time to rebuild trust but that both sides should work together starting with this round of negotiations.

Even with talks restarting, the gap between the two sides remains wide. The union is demanding that Samsung abolish the 50% cap on performance bonuses and institutionalize a system that allocates 15% of annual operating profit to bonuses. Management has said it can consider increasing bonus payouts but is reluctant to formalize the structure. The company argues that locking in bonuses at 15% of operating profit could disrupt investment plans in the semiconductor business, where annual spending runs into tens of trillions of won. It is also concerned that such a standard could set a precedent across Korean industry.

Still, the union showed some flexibility during the post-mediation process. It proposed receiving 13% of operating profit as a cash bonus and 2% as a stock bonus, while shortening the period for eliminating the bonus cap to five years from 10 years. The National Labor Relations Commission also drafted a proposal raising the figure to 12% of operating profit. A deal cannot be ruled out if both sides make concessions.

The union has warned that if its demands are not accepted, it will launch an 18-day general strike from May 21 through June 7.

Lee Jung-woo, Hankyung.com reporter, krse9059@hankyung.com