Labor, management to resume talks next week as government urges dialogue amid concerns over economic fallout
Samsung Electronics’ largest labor union said Friday it will enter post-mediation talks with management next week, opening another round of negotiations before a full-scale strike planned for May 21.
The Samsung Electronics Labor Union said the decision followed a meeting with Kim Do-hyung, chief of the Gyeonggi branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor, and a separate tripartite session involving labor, management and government officials.
The talks are set for Monday and Tuesday, the union said.
“If we do not see a satisfactory outcome, we will not hesitate to go on a full-scale strike,” union chief Choi Seung-ho said.
The move comes after an earlier round of mediation talks broke down, leaving labor and management with little time to narrow their differences before the planned walkout.
Kim met Choi earlier Friday as concerns mounted over the union’s strike plan. The National Labor Relations Commission, which mediates labor disputes, had also asked Samsung Electronics and the union whether they would agree to post-mediation talks.
Post-mediation is available after formal mediation ends, but only when both labor and management agree to it. The commission can then help the two sides continue negotiations.
Mediation over Samsung Electronics’ performance-based bonus system was halted in March. With both sides now agreeing to the follow-up process, talks are expected to resume under the commission’s mediation.
Samsung Electronics has been here before.
In July 2024, when the company’s union staged its first strike, the National Labor Relations Commission began post-mediation between labor and management. That effort, however, failed to produce an agreement.
The two sides later resumed negotiations on their own and eventually reached a tentative wage agreement.
This time, the dispute is drawing wider attention, with a prolonged strike at Samsung Electronics seen as a potential risk to Korea’s economy and industrial supply chains.
President Lee Jae Myung said during a senior secretaries’ meeting on April 30 that “If some organized workers make excessive or unfair demands to protect only themselves and draw public criticism, it will hurt not only the union concerned but also other workers.”
He did not mention Samsung Electronics by name. But the remark was widely seen as being aimed at the company’s union, as public criticism over the planned strike has grown.
Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon also called for dialogue Thursday during a nationwide meeting of regional labor office chiefs to review key labor relations issues.
“I urge Samsung Electronics labor and management to swiftly engage in sincere dialogue,” Kim said.
By Jie Ye-eun (yeeun@heraldcorp.com)
