Translation result.
The Samsung Electronics union said management referenced the government’s mention of emergency mediation to pressure the union and vowed, “We will not yield.”
Choi Seung-ho, chair of the Trans-Enterprise Union — the largest union within Samsung Electronics — said on May 17, “Following the government’s mention of emergency mediation, the company’s stance appears to have shifted.”
He added, “Today we held an informal meeting at the request of People Team leader Yeomyeong-gu. They asked, ‘Can you accept a proposal that is worse than the post-adjustment offer? Can’t the chair resolve this through leadership?'”
He said he told them he could not accept that and warned he would not agree if management took the same position at tomorrow’s post-adjustment mediation.
He also said management had escalated pressure by hinting at emergency mediation and warning that such measures would cause significant damage, but reiterated, “We will not yield.”
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, in an address to the nation at the Government Complex Seoul, said the post-adjustment mediation on the 18th is effectively the last chance. He warned that if a strike threatens substantial harm to the national economy, the government may consider all available options, including emergency mediation.
At a briefing, Blue House senior spokesperson Kang Yoo-jung said Kim’s reference to emergency mediation reflected the government’s official position. She said the government hopes labor and management will resolve the dispute through mediation and pledged to provide full support for that effort.
Samsung Electronics and the union plan to hold a second post-adjustment mediation session at the Central Labor Relations Commission on the 18th.
Earlier, from the 11th into the early hours of the 13th, the parties engaged in post-adjustment mediation under the CLRC, but talks collapsed after they failed to bridge differences over the performance-bonus criteria.
The union demands that 15% of operating profit be used as the performance bonus pool and that the cap set at 50% of annual salary be removed. Management proposed using 10% of operating profit as the bonus pool if the company achieves the top domestic market position.
Analysts estimate a full union strike could cost Samsung Electronics roughly 30 to 40 trillion KRW (approximately $22.5–30 billion). That prospect has prompted discussion that the government could invoke emergency mediation powers to forcibly halt a strike.
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