Samsung Labor-Management 'Final Negotiation' Fails... Jeonsamno Rejects Both Justification and Practical Benefits

Three-Day Final Negotiations Fail
Disagreement Over Point Payments
Union Status Likely to Disappear on the 5th
Management: "We Will Continue Dialogue... No Issues with Volume Response"

Samsung Electronics management and labor union failed to reach a consensus despite three days of 'final negotiations.' Although the management proposed a negotiation plan that accepted the demands of the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union (Jeonsamno), such as improving the performance bonus calculation criteria, the union made additional demands like 'providing 2 million won worth of employee-exclusive shopping mall points,' resulting in a failure to find a compromise.

According to industry sources on the 1st, Samsung Electronics management and Jeonsamno held negotiations over three days from the 29th of last month at an office in Giheung, Gyeonggi Province, discussing wage increases and performance bonus system improvements, but declared a final breakdown around 6:30 p.m. on the 31st without reaching an agreement.

On the morning of the 22nd, members of the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union held a rally for the victory of the general strike at the Semiconductor Sporex in Samsung Electronics Giheung Campus, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The management reportedly proposed ▲ recognizing 8 hours of paid union activities during union general meetings ▲ providing 500,000 leisure points to all employees ▲ consulting the union when improving performance bonus calculation criteria in the future ▲ reducing the mandatory annual leave usage days in 2024 from 15 to 10.

This was interpreted as partially corresponding to the union's demands, which included ▲ guaranteeing 1 day of union founding leave ▲ compensation for economic losses due to strikes ▲ improvement of the performance bonus system ▲ an additional 0.5% wage increase for union members.

However, it is known that the negotiations ultimately broke down because Jeonsamno additionally demanded 2 million points on Samsung Family Net, Samsung Electronics employees’ product purchase site, at the final stage of the talks. The management's position is that this could be interpreted as an indirect way to compensate union members for wage losses due to the strike, potentially violating the 'no work, no pay' principle.

The breakdown of the intensive negotiations on that day also led to analyses that only the union members participating in the strike suffered losses. The wage losses due to the prolonged strike are snowballing. Union members who have participated in the strike since the 8th of last month are estimated to have suffered wage losses of at least 4 million won for assistant managers and 5 million won for managers, based on the no work, no pay principle.

Jeonsamno is expected to continue the strike for the time being. However, since Jeonsamno’s representative bargaining rights expire on the 5th, they must regain representative bargaining rights and dispute rights afterward to continue the strike.

Currently, Samsung Electronics has five unions: the Office Workers’ Union (1st union), Gumi Network Union (2nd union), Samsung Electronics Union Donghaeng (Donghaeng Union, 3rd union), Jeonsamno (4th union), and DX (Device Experience) Union (5th union). If another union demands bargaining rights, individual negotiations will proceed, or the process of unifying the negotiation channel must be undertaken again. Jeonsamno would lose its status as the representative bargaining union and would not be able to maintain the strike.

A business community official expressed concern, saying, "Since additional negotiations are practically impossible during the remaining period, this breakdown in negotiations may only leave wage loss damages for union members."

Meanwhile, Jeonsamno held a press conference in front of Chairman Lee Jae-yong’s residence in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the same day, urging the fulfillment of the promise to abolish no-union management and the resolution of the strike, and is reportedly planning to announce further strike plans afterward.

A Samsung Electronics official stated, "We did our best until the end to reach an agreement with Jeonsamno, but unfortunately, it ended in a breakdown," adding, "We plan to continue dialogue with the union going forward."

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