Samsung Electronics labor and management held a second post-mediation meeting at the Central Labor Relations Commission (CLRC) at the Government Sejong Complex at 10 a.m. on the 12th to conclude the 2026 wage agreement and discussed the matter for 17 hours but ultimately failed to reach a deal. This post-mediation collapsed at the request of the Samsung Electronics labor union to halt the talks. Samsung Electronics said it was "very regrettable."
On the 13th, Samsung Electronics issued a statement on the breakdown of post-mediation, saying, "The post-mediation that the government painstakingly arranged was regrettably scrapped by the union's declaration of breakdown," and added, "The government supported consultations by presenting various alternatives based on the claims of both labor and management, but the union declared a breakdown."
Samsung Electronics said, "The union's decision is an action that causes great concern and anxiety to the company, the employees waiting for a settlement, and shareholders and the public," adding it was "very regrettable." It continued, "The union is rejecting the company's flexible institutionalization tied to business performance and has consistently insisted only on rigid institutionalization," and added, "The company will continue efforts to avert the worst-case scenario through sincere dialogue until the very end."
The Samsung Electronics union is calling for a performance bonus plan funded by 15% of operating profit with no cap. It has announced an 18-day general strike starting on the 21st. With even the CLRC-mediated post-mediation, conducted with labor-management consent, ending in breakdown, the likelihood of a strike by the Samsung Electronics union has increased.
Choi Seung-ho, chairperson of the Samsung Electronics chapter of the Samsung Group supra-enterprise labor union (supra-enterprise union), said after the post-mediation meeting ended, "We asked for a mediation proposal because the gap between labor and management could not be narrowed, and we waited nearly 12 hours, but the proposal actually regressed," adding, "The proposal retained the existing excess profit-based bonus (OPI) system and the 50% cap on performance bonuses rather than making performance bonuses more transparent." He added, "We demanded the abolition of the performance bonus cap and transparency and institutionalization, but this was not achieved," and said, "It is not desirable to leave our performance to external factors, and we cannot accept a one-off agenda item, so we declare the breakdown of post-mediation."
The CLRC, which handled mediation for this post-mediation, said, "The gap between the two sides' positions is wide, and at the union's request to stop post-mediation, we decided to end this post-mediation without presenting a mediation proposal," adding, "We can support additional post-mediation at any time."
However, Chairperson Choi, on whether to continue participating in the CLRC's extended post-mediation, said, "It ended today." On plans for autonomous negotiations with management, Choi said, "If the company brings a proper agenda, we are willing to hear it."