Samsung Electronics Labor and Management Enter Wage Negotiation Process... Introductory Meeting on the 5th of Next Month

At the Samsung Electronics collective agreement signing ceremony held last August at the Samsung Electronics Giheung Campus, CEO Kim Hyun-seok (right in the photo) and Chief Negotiator Kim Man-jae are exchanging greetings. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Woo Su-yeon] Samsung Electronics labor and management will hold a preliminary meeting early next month and begin wage negotiation procedures.

According to industry sources on the 22nd, Samsung Electronics labor and management working-level officials will hold a preliminary meeting on the 5th of next month and agree to conduct negotiations once a week to discuss the 2021 wage negotiation procedures and schedule.

Earlier, the National Samsung Electronics Union under the Korean Federation of Metalworkers' Unions, affiliated with the Federation of Korean Trade Unions, submitted a wage and welfare negotiation request to the management at the end of last month. The draft wage negotiation proposal requested by the union included a uniform 10 million KRW increase in the annual contract salary for all employees, payment of company stocks and COVID-19 bonuses, and abolition of wage cuts for lower performance ratings.

Previously, Samsung Electronics decided on a total wage increase of 7.5% this year through the in-house autonomous body, the labor-management council, but the union's proposed uniform 10 million KRW increase is expected to result in a higher level of wage increase effect.

The National Samsung Electronics Union is the largest among the four unions within Samsung Electronics, with about 4,500 members, and plans to form a joint negotiation team with other unions to engage in negotiations.

Since the establishment of the union in 2018, wage negotiations between labor and management have been conducted at Samsung Electronics, but no actual agreements have been reached, and wage increase rates have been determined through the in-house autonomous labor-management council.

Earlier in August, Samsung Electronics labor and management succeeded in signing a collective agreement for the first time since the company's founding, and if an agreement is reached this time, it is expected to be the first wage negotiation agreement agreed upon by labor and management.