Samsung Display Labor and Management Fail to Narrow Wage Negotiation Differences... Possible Strike and Industrial Action Ahead?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Although Samsung Display's labor and management resumed wage negotiations after about a month, the possibility of moving to industrial action has increased as they failed to narrow their differences. The company expressed that it cannot accept the union's wage negotiation demands, and the union expressed regret and plans to decide whether to initiate industrial actions such as strikes.

According to the Samsung Display union on the 9th, labor and management held the second round of representative wage negotiations in the afternoon at the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Chungnam Sejong Regional Headquarters. The negotiation was attended by union co-chairs Kim Jeongran and Lee Changwan, and on the management side, Executive Director Kim Jonggeun and Head of HR Support Group Lee Gyuwon, among others.

At the negotiation, the management conveyed to the union through a final proposal that it "cannot accept the demands." It was reported that the company cited business difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason for being unable to accept demands that would incur additional costs. However, the proposal included that from the next wage negotiation onward, negotiations would be conducted directly between the union and the company rather than through the labor-management council, and that a special official body would be operated by both sides to hold meetings at least once per quarter.

The union responded by saying, "The company maintained its previous stance. We are very disappointed," and added, "We will prepare to properly exercise our right to industrial action." The union plans to hold an executive and delegate meeting on the afternoon of the 10th to discuss the management's final proposal. If the final proposal is accepted, a decision process through a vote of all union members will follow; if rejected, discussions for industrial actions such as strikes will proceed based on the secured right to industrial action.

Samsung Display's labor and management have been conducting wage negotiations for three months since February, but at the end of April, the union declared a breakdown in negotiations in protest against the management's negotiation attitude. Subsequently, the union received 91% support in a strike vote among members and secured the legal right to strike following the Ministry of Employment and Labor's "mediation suspension" ruling last month.

The two sides resumed negotiations after about a month following a meeting between Samsung Display President Choi Juseon and the union co-chairs on the 25th of last month, and held another meeting on the 2nd. The union is demanding a 6.8% increase in base pay and improvements to the performance bonus system based on last year's results. On the other hand, the management maintains that it cannot accept anything beyond the 4.5% base pay increase decided by the labor-management council.

If the Samsung Display union goes on strike, it will be the first strike case among Samsung Group affiliates since Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong of Samsung Electronics declared the "end of no-union management" last May. The Samsung Display union was established under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions in February last year and currently has about 2,400 members, accounting for approximately 10% of all employees.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.