Samsung Electronics, Union Hold Final 10 a.m. Talks Ahead of Planned Strike

Samsung Electronics Co. and its union will continue negotiations over performance bonus criteria and other issues until a day before the planned strike.

The two sides are set to resume post-mediation talks at 10 a.m. on May 20 at the National Labor Relations Commission in the government complex in Sejong. The session is effectively the last chance to avoid the union’s general strike scheduled for the following day.

A second round of talks that began on May 18 ran until 12:30 a.m. on May 20 without a deal. After discussions resumed on the morning of May 19 and continued for more than 14 hours past midnight, the commission recessed the meeting and decided to reconvene it as a third session.

The main sticking points in the second round were how much of operating profit should be set aside for a special performance bonus pool for the DS division, which handles Samsung’s semiconductor business, and how that pool should be allocated among the division’s business units.

The union has demanded 13% to 15% of operating profit for the pool, while management has offered 9% to 10%. On distribution, the union wants 70% of the pool paid equally to all employees in the DS division and the remaining 30% differentiated based on the performance of each business unit.

Management has opposed that structure because loss-making non-memory businesses, including System LSI and foundry, would still receive large bonuses simply because they are part of the DS division. The company has argued that the common allocation ratio should be reduced and the portion tied to unit-level performance increased.

Park Soo-geun, chairman of the National Labor Relations Commission, said after the second day of talks ended late on May 19 that the two sides still disagreed on one issue. Most other matters had been sorted out. He said management would return at 10 a.m. on May 20 after reviewing its position on the remaining point, suggesting the next move rests with the company.

If Samsung accepts the commission’s proposal, the two sides would reach a tentative agreement. The union would then put the deal to a vote by its members. If management rejects the proposal at the third meeting, or if union members vote it down after Samsung accepts it, a general strike could begin on May 21.

Even as talks continued on May 19, management also prepared for a possible walkout. It sent the union an official notice saying 7,087 workers would need to remain on duty each day at semiconductor sites and other facilities to maintain core operations during a general strike.

The government has also signaled it could invoke emergency arbitration, citing concerns about potential damage to the national economy.

Kim So-yeon, Hankyung.com reporter sue123@hankyung.com