Samsung Electronics Labor and Management, Integrated Wage Negotiations for Last Year and This Year... "Considering Vacation Expansion"

Failed to Reach 2023 Negotiation Agreement, Carried Over to Next Year
Main Negotiations for Two-Year Integration Start on 16th
Wage Increase Rate and Performance Bonus Negotiations Key

Samsung Electronics management and labor have started wage negotiation talks for this year. They will also address the negotiations that failed to reach an agreement last year in one go.

According to industry sources on the 18th, Samsung Electronics management and the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union (Jeonsamno) began the first round of 2024 wage negotiations on the 16th.

Samsung Electronics forms a labor-management council consisting of employer representatives and worker representatives elected by employee votes to determine the wage increase rate and other matters. They also conduct separate annual wage negotiations with the union's joint bargaining group.

Last year, the labor-management council set the average wage increase rate at 4.1%. The union's joint bargaining group opposed this and filed for dispute mediation, securing the right to strike. Although concerns about a strike grew, it did not occur. Subsequently, Jeonsamno, which secured the representative bargaining rights, resumed wage negotiations in September last year but failed to reach an agreement.

On the 9th, Samsung Electronics Seocho Building, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The main issues are the wage increase rate and the performance bonus system. According to a survey conducted by the union among both union and non-union members before the wage negotiations, 64.5% responded that an appropriate increase rate would be '6-10%'. '5% or less' accounted for 22.7%, and '11-15%' was 8.8%.

Samsung Electronics determines the average wage increase rate by adding the basic increase rate to the individual increase rate based on personal performance evaluations. The wage increase level varies by performance rating. The union stated, "We will do our best to improve the arbitrary wage increase proposals, the payment criteria for Target Achievement Incentive (TAI) and Over-Profit Incentive (OPI), the disparity in starting salaries among business divisions, and the uncertain special performance bonuses."

Negotiations to improve vacation policies are also underway. A Samsung Electronics official said, "Nothing has been finalized yet, and this is a matter to be negotiated between both parties." The union plans to prepare so that tangible benefits can be delivered to its members.

Jeonsamno is the largest of the five Samsung Electronics unions. As of the 9th, it has 10,891 members. This accounts for 8.8% of the total 124,070 domestic employees (as of June 30 last year).

In August 2022, Samsung Electronics signed a wage agreement with the union for the first time since its founding in 1969. At that time, management and labor conducted a total of 31 wage negotiation sessions, including 11 main negotiations and 20 working-level negotiations.