[mdtoday = Reporter Shin Hyun-jung] As Samsung Electronics confronts the largest strike threat in its history, labor authorities have stepped up efforts to mediate between the company and its union. With the pan-company union's Samsung Electronics branch threatening a full strike on the 21st, the government has intervened directly to encourage negotiations.
Kim Do-hyeong, head of the Gyeonggi Regional Employment and Labor Office, is scheduled to meet with Choi Seung-ho, chair of the pan-company union’s Samsung Electronics branch, on the 8th. The meeting is intended to reopen dialogue and defuse the escalating conflict before it leads to a strike.
The Central Labor Relations Commission (CLRC) has also offered to mediate by proposing participation in a post-adjustment mediation process. Post-adjustment mediation restarts talks after formal procedures have ended but requires both parties' consent. If both sides agree, negotiations could resume, including on bonus payments for which mediation was suspended in March.
Samsung’s labor and management went through the CLRC’s post-adjustment mediation during the first strike in July 2024. They did not reach a final agreement then, but later produced a tentative wage accord through voluntary bargaining.
Growing concern about how a prolonged Samsung labor dispute could affect the broader national economy has increased calls for government involvement. At a senior aides meeting on the 30th of last month, President Lee Jae-myung warned that excessive or unfair demands by some organized workers, if they draw public criticism, would harm not only the unions involved but other workers as well. He did not name a specific company, though industry observers largely viewed the remark as aimed at a potential Samsung union strike.
Employment and Labor Minister Kim Moon-soo likewise urged both labor and management at Samsung Electronics to engage in sincere talks promptly during a nationwide agency chiefs meeting held the same day.
Observers are watching closely to see whether the government's pressure and mediation efforts will alter the tense labor-management relationship.
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