SEOUL, South Korea — Unionized workers at Samsung Electronics have agreed to resume talks with management, raising hopes of a breakthrough ahead of a planned strike in May over bonuses and wages.
The decision followed a labor-management meeting on Tuesday, where company officials signaled a willingness to address key union demands, including the removal of a cap on performance-based bonuses.
“We had a labour-management meeting at 2 p.m., and management expressed its willingness to discuss removing the cap on performance-based bonuses and other issues,” a joint board of three labour unions, including the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), said in a statement.
“Accordingly, we have decided to resume negotiations,” it added.
Full-scale negotiations are scheduled for Thursday and Friday, following a working-level meeting on Wednesday.
The renewed dialogue comes a day after union representatives met with Vice Chairman and CEO Jun Young-hyun.
Tensions have been building in recent weeks, with unions saying that 93.1 percent of their members backed a strike plan in a vote. The three unions collectively represent around 90,000 workers.
Unionized employees have been pushing for the removal of bonus caps, a 7 percent wage increase, and greater transparency in how performance-based bonuses are calculated.
The unions had previously planned to hold a press conference near the residence of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong in Seoul on Monday to announce collective action, but later canceled the event after management proposed further discussions with Jun.
During the meeting, Jun acknowledged workers’ concerns and said the company would review the unions’ demands, according to the union.
Jun, who leads Samsung’s critical semiconductor business, also noted that the company must consider different approaches to distributing bonuses across business units, while remaining open to additional discussions in the near future. (Source: IANS)
