Samsung, Union End First Day of Second Mediation Round, Say They’re Seeking Common Ground

Samsung Electronics Co. and its labor union faced off on May 18 in a second round of post-dispute mediation at South Korea’s National Labor Relations Commission, with the two sides wrangling over bonus payment criteria.

The talks ran from 10 a.m. to 6:20 p.m. at the commission’s office in the Government Complex Sejong. The session ended 40 minutes ahead of the originally scheduled 7 p.m.

Choi Seung-ho, chairman of the Samsung Electronics union’s joint strike headquarters, told reporters after leaving the meeting room that the union was participating in the negotiations in good faith. He added that it would return at 10 a.m. on May 19.

Choi declined to answer questions on whether management had changed its position, whether a deal could be reached on May 19, or how he viewed a court ruling that granted an injunction banning industrial action.

Asked whether the commission would present a mediation proposal on May 19, National Labor Relations Commission Chairman Park Soo-geun, who is serving as mediator, replied: “I suppose we should.”

Samsung and the union spent the morning session mainly laying out their positions. In the afternoon, they moved into intense negotiations over key issues including the basis for funding bonuses and the ceiling on payouts.

A commission official offered a mildly positive assessment of the meeting. Park Jeong-beom, director of mediation at the National Labor Relations Commission, said both sides had engaged actively and that the panel had heard what it needed from labor and management.

Asked whether the two sides had found any common ground, he said: “We are finding it.”

Park added that the panel had reviewed whether any positions had shifted among the various proposals raised so far and said the talks had proceeded smoothly.

The two sides will resume post-dispute mediation from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on May 19. For now, the commission aims to hear as much as possible from both camps through May 19, identify overlapping positions and draft a mediation proposal.

If the discussions run long, the meeting could end later than scheduled and may be extended to May 20.

The first round of post-dispute mediation, held on May 11 and May 12, also ran well past midnight and ended in the early hours of May 13.

With the union’s planned strike set for May 21, this latest mediation round is effectively the last chance to reach a settlement.

The government a day earlier signaled it could invoke emergency arbitration powers to prevent a strike. Labor groups, including the Samsung Electronics union, have objected.

Ko Jeong-sam, Hankyung.com reporter, jsk@hankyung.com