Jun Young-hyun, vice chair in charge of the DS institutional sector (semiconductors) and a CEO of Samsung Electronics, and Roh Tae-Moon, president of the DX institutional sector (finished goods), said they would "do our best in our respective roles so that future competitiveness is not lost." The message called for mending tensions two weeks before the start of a general strike announced by the Samsung Electronics labor union.
According to Samsung Electronics on the 7th, the vice chair Jun and President Roh each posted a message titled A message to all employees with the same content under their own names on the internal bulletin boards of their institutional sectors. They moved to communicate directly so that the bonus dispute with the union would not escalate into the extreme step of a strike.
The two CEOs said, "As the negotiations have dragged on, we believe many employees are feeling concern and frustration," and added, "The company will continue consultations with an open mind and work to prepare a direction that employees can agree with."
The Samsung Electronics chapter of the Samsung Group supra-enterprise labor union (supra-enterprise union), the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union, and the Samsung Electronics Labor Union DongHaeng (DongHaeng union) formed a joint bargaining group in Nov. last year and have been negotiating with management on the 2026 wage and collective agreement (wage and collective bargaining). After talks broke down in Feb., they shifted to a joint struggle headquarters and held a vote on industrial action, winning a majority in favor. They have since announced a plan to begin an 18-day general strike starting on the 21st.
In the message, the two CEOs said, "Since Dec. last year, the company has been negotiating with the union's joint bargaining group for the 2026 wage agreement," and added, "During the negotiations, the company presented alternatives by comprehensively considering employees, the company's future competitiveness, and business operating conditions, and sought to broaden mutual understanding through dialogue with the union." They continued, "We regret that we have not yet reached a final agreement," and said, "In a grave global business environment, all of management, including myself, will approach this with a responsible attitude so as not to lose future competitiveness."
In the intensive negotiations for the 2026 wage talks that began on Mar. 26, Samsung Electronics sought to resolve the conflict by proposing compensation higher than competitors if the DS institutional sector achieves No. 1 in the domestic industry. It proposed an exceptional bonus plan by using more than 10% of operating profit as the performance bonus pool. The company also stepped back from its previous position that "the bonus cap must be maintained," and additionally proposed a "special reward" that would exceed the bonus cap of 50% of annual salary. It also promised to continue compensation at the special reward level if this year's performance is repeated. However, the union declared the breakdown of talks and said it would push ahead with a strike, insisting on demands such as the "permanent abolition of the bonus cap."
A business community official said, "It is hard to understand that the union halted negotiations by clinging to the pretext of a system change, even though the company effectively accepted most of the union's demands by promising even special rewards that exceed the bonus cap," and added, "With global semiconductor competition intense, the union's hard-line course could weigh on the company's future competitiveness."