This photo, taken on April 7, 2020, shows the outdoor signage of Samsung Electronics Co. at its office building in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 29 (Korea Bizwire) — The labor and management of Samsung Electronics Co. have failed to narrow their differences in 2021 wage negotiations.
Management sent an official letter to the labor union last week, saying, “If the union merges the agenda proposed in the 2021 wage negotiations with the 2022 wage negotiations, discussions would be carried out smoothly,” while proposing to discuss the 2021 wage agenda through the 2022 wage negotiations.
The core agenda for the 2021 wage negotiations that the union’s joint bargaining group has been demanding is ‘improving the pay system’ and ‘guaranteeing the right to rest.’
The union has demanded a flat-rate increase in the basic wage, revision of standard for performance-based pay, abolition of the comprehensive wage system and wage peak system, and expansion of paid holidays.
Management’s proposal came in response to the union’s request for improvement within a week after the CEO-union chairman meeting last week.
The union criticized management’s proposal as nothing but a trick and expedient to avoid responsibility for the 2021 wage negotiations that are stuck in a deadlock.
The labor union and Samsung management have been engaged in wage negotiations through 15 rounds of talks starting from October last year, but eventually the negotiations ended in a failure as they could not narrow their positions.
Since the National Labor Relations Commission has already made a decision to suspend mediation, the union will have the right to legally engage in industrial action, including a strike, if it goes through the votes of union members.
There has never been a labor strike at Samsung since its foundation in 1969.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
