Samsung Electronics union hesitant about strike

Unionized workers at Samsung Electronics chant during a press conference in front of the company's building in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Park Jae-hyuk

Unionized workers at Samsung Electronics took a step back from starting the first-ever strike in the company's 53-year history, amid negative public sentiment about their ongoing protest, as they are paid much higher wages than most salaried employees in Korea.

Representatives from the conglomerate's four unions told reporters Wednesday that they were not in favor of going on strike at this moment, calling it a “last resort.”

“Samsung's group-wide problems cannot be resolved simply through our strike,” said Lee Hyun-kook, the leader of the emergency planning committee of the Nationwide Samsung Electronics Union, the largest among the four unions.

The unionized workers were initially expected to announce their strike plan at Wednesday's press conference, after they won the legal right to go on strike when the National Labor Relations Commission's arbitration failed on Monday to lead to efforts to reach an agreement between company workers and management over their wages for 2021.

The conglomerate's unions can go on strike legally, if a majority of their members vote in favor of the action.

Instead of going on strike immediately, however, they demanded a dialogue with Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong or other top executives, such as Vice Chairman Chung Hyun-ho, Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee or President Kyung Kye-hyun.

Samsung Electronics' unions threatened to join hands with unionized workers at other Samsung affiliates to take every possible measure, if the top executives refuse to participate in negotiations.

The unions plan to hold another rally next Wednesday in front of the conglomerate's building in Seoul, along with other Samsung affiliate unions facing difficulty reaching wage agreements with management.

In response, Samsung Electronics' management reiterated that it will continue to hold talks with workers. However, it has remained reluctant to accept the union's request for a 10 million won ($8,400) increase in each employee's annual salary and payment of performance-based bonuses equivalent to 25 percent of the conglomerate's operating profit.

Last March, the company's joint labor-management council had already agreed to raise the base salary for 2021 by 4.5 percent and the performance-based bonus by 3 percent.

Minority shareholders of Samsung Electronics have expressed concerns that higher salaries could reduce their shareholder returns. There is also criticism that the four unions cannot represent all of Samsung Electronics' employees, because the combined number of their members accounts for only 4 percent of the 110,000 employees.