[iNews24 reporter Kwon Seo-ah] Samsung Electronics and its union failed to close their gap over bonus funding and its institutionalization during post-adjustment mediation at the Central Labor Relations Commission. The union said it would consider the talks broken if the commission did not issue a mediation proposal by 8:20 p.m. that day.
Choi Seung-ho, chair of the Samsung Electronics branch of the Cross-Company Union, stepped out of the room during the second post-adjustment meeting at the Central Labor Relations Commission in Sejong around 6:18 p.m. on the 12th and told reporters, “We spoke with management, but we couldn’t narrow the issues.”
“We have repeatedly demanded that the bonus pool be drawn from operating profit — specifically, 15% of operating profit for bonuses — and that this be institutionalized,” he said. “The company still insists on keeping the bonus at 10% of operating profit and says it cannot cover the non-memory businesses.”
“We asked for the mediation proposal and have been waiting for three hours,” he added. “If it doesn’t arrive within two hours, we will consider the talks dead and walk away.”
In a Telegram post, Choi said he pressed the commission that if a revised proposal from the Central Labor Relations Commission makes a 15% operating-profit target impossible, the OPI (excess-profit performance bonus) stock-compensation scheme should be expanded so workers can receive more even if the percentage falls short by one or two points, and that the percentage and institutionalization should be addressed together.
The first meeting, held the previous day, ran from 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Negotiations resumed that day for many hours but, according to reports, failed again to find common ground.
The union demands that 15% of operating profit be codified as the bonus fund and that the cap on bonuses be removed. The company, by contrast, reportedly insists on maintaining the current 10% operating-profit level.
Labor and management also remain at odds over how to allocate bonuses between the DS (semiconductor) and DX (finished-product) divisions and how to compensate the non-memory business unit.
If post-adjustment talks collapse, the union plans an 18-day general strike from the 21st through the 7th of next month. Industry observers say the prospect of Samsung’s second-ever companywide strike is becoming increasingly plausible.
