Samsung Electronics management and the union held marathon talks lasting roughly 15 hours but failed to reach agreement on one key issue. Nonetheless, both sides — which appear to have agreed on the broad framework — plan to resume negotiations at dawn on the 20th, one day before the union’s deadline to announce a full strike.
The Central Labor Relations Commission said it adjourned the second day of second-stage post-adjustment talks at about 1 a.m. on the 20th. The commission and Samsung Electronics negotiators had been meeting in the mediation room at the government complex in Sejong since 10 a.m. on the 19th.
The commission explained that, during the session, the date shifted to the 20th, prompting a change in the meeting sequence; a third session was opened and recessed at 12:30 a.m.
Earlier, the commission had said it would end mediation at 10 p.m. on the 19th. Although the talks continued about 2.5 hours longer, they still failed to produce a final agreement.
Park Su-geun, the commission’s sole conciliator, said the session was paused because the parties disagreed on several issues, and most importantly, on one critical point. He added that management told him it would finalize its position and return at 10 a.m.
On the remaining issues, he said the parties have likely reached broad agreement.
As of the previous afternoon, the parties remained divided over whether to formalize a performance-bonus system and how to allocate shares by department.
But based on Park’s remarks, it appears they narrowed their differences during the second-stage mediation on most key points — including funding for OPI (excess-profit performance bonuses), allocation ratios and whether to institutionalize the system. The second-stage post-adjustment proceeded with Park presenting alternatives for the parties to review.
The day before, Park had vowed that if the parties failed to reach agreement by 10 p.m., he would present the commission’s mediation proposal. He said he did present that proposal during the session.
The commission’s mediation proposal is a nonbinding recommendation offered to both sides if they cannot reach a settlement.
Park said, “Whether it’s an agreement or a mediation outcome, they amount to the same thing, so we’ll decide today (the 20th) whether to treat it as an agreement or as a mediation proposal. Because they haven’t agreed, I intend to issue a mediation proposal; for now, proceedings are paused.”
With the union threatening an all-out strike on the 21st, any resumed talks that yield a provisional agreement are likely to be wrapped up in the morning to allow time for a union membership vote.
On the vote schedule, Park said they have prepared multiple scenarios and would suspend the strike for the time required to conduct the vote.
If talks ultimately collapse and a full strike becomes imminent, the government must decide whether to invoke emergency mediation powers. The labor minister can trigger emergency mediation when industrial action poses a serious threat to the national economy or to citizens’ livelihoods.
If the labor minister activates those powers, the union would be barred from striking or taking other industrial action for 30 days while the commission restarts mediation. If the parties still cannot reach agreement, the commission may issue an arbitration proposal that, unlike the mediation proposal, carries binding force.
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