Samsung Electronics Wage Negotiation Final Proposal Rejected... Union "Organizing Bigger Struggle"

Opposition Reaches 90.7% in Union Member Ballot... Union "Will Secure Legal Right to Strike"

The Samsung flag is fluttering in the wind in front of the Samsung Electronics Seocho building. Photo by Mun Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Hye-young] Samsung Electronics' final wage negotiation proposal for 2021 was rejected in a union vote. The union blamed the company for the rejection of the final proposal and announced plans for further action.

According to industry sources on the 25th, the National Samsung Electronics Union under the Korean Federation of Metalworkers' Unions, the largest union within Samsung Electronics, recently conducted a three-day vote among its members on the company's final wage negotiation proposal. The result showed 90.7% opposition, rendering the final proposal invalid. Only 9.3% voted in favor.

In a statement, the union criticized, "The company showed a typical pattern of insincere negotiations throughout the recent wage bargaining process, merely delaying time," and added, "During this wage negotiation process, the union painfully realized that Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong's 'no-union management' policy remains unchanged."

They continued, "Following the members' will, Chairman Jin Yoon-seok has decided to take responsibility and resign from his position," and warned, "Now, dialogue between labor and management has broken down. We will switch to an emergency countermeasure committee system, secure legal strike rights, and organize a stronger struggle against the company."

Samsung Electronics had previously delivered the final wage negotiation proposal to the union's joint bargaining group on the 21st.

The final proposal included a plan to support a "Union Development Fund" of 30 million KRW for member welfare and accident prevention, as well as an agreement to discuss improvements to the wage peak system and employee rest rights within a labor-management win-win consultative body.

However, wage-related demands from the union, such as a uniform 10 million KRW annual salary increase for all employees and a 25% performance bonus based on annual operating profit, were not reflected in the final proposal.

The company reportedly maintained its position that, aside from the existing 2021 wage increase determined by the labor-management council composed of employee representatives in March last year, additional increases are difficult.

Within the union, there were many opinions that the company's final proposal should be rejected due to the exclusion of wage-related demands.

The union plans to proceed with an adjustment application to the Central Labor Relations Commission and will consider whether to initiate a strike depending on the outcome.

Samsung Electronics labor and management signed their first collective labor agreement in the company's 52-year history in August last year. Subsequently, they entered wage negotiations in October of the same year and conducted a total of 15 rounds of talks.