Samsung Electronics labor negotiations break down, 50,000 employees prepare to strike

Odaily reported that the head of the Samsung Electronics union in South Korea stated that the company and the union failed to reach an agreement on a wage deal on Wednesday, with over 50,000 employees expected to launch a full-scale strike, potentially disrupting the production of artificial intelligence and other chips. Previously, under government mediation, both sides held marathon negotiation sessions for hours on Monday and Tuesday.

Union representative Choi Seung-ho said the company did not respond to the union's demands for reforming the compensation plan, including removing the current bonus cap set at 50% of the annual base salary and calculating bonuses solely based on operating profit. The union previously stated that if their demands are not met, employees would go on strike for 18 days starting May 21. The union representative stated that there are currently no plans to resume negotiations with management before the strike date, but he is willing to consider it if the company proposes a "reasonable plan."

The National Labor Relations Commission of South Korea stated that it has proposed "multiple alternatives" but decided to end the mediation process "given the significant gap in positions between the two sides and the union's request to suspend negotiations." (Jin Shi)