Samsung Electronics labor and management held a second post-mediation meeting at the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) at the Government Sejong Complex at 10 a.m. on the 12th to conclude a 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 "deeply regrettable."
On the 13th, Samsung Electronics issued a statement on the failure of post-mediation, saying, "The post-mediation painstakingly arranged by the government unfortunately fell through with the union's declaration to break off talks," and, "The government supported talks by presenting a range of alternatives based on the positions 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, employees awaiting a settlement, shareholders, and the public," adding, "It is deeply regrettable." It continued, "The union is rejecting the company's flexible institutionalization tied to business performance and has consistently insisted on rigid institutionalization," and, "The company will continue efforts to avert the worst-case scenario through sincere dialogue until the end."
The Samsung Electronics union is calling for a performance bonus program with no cap, funded by 15% of operating profit. It has warned it will launch an 18-day general strike starting on the 21st. With even the renewed mediation under the NLRC, conducted by mutual consent, breaking down, the likelihood of a strike by the Samsung Electronics union has grown.
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, "Because the gap between labor and management did not narrow, we requested a mediation plan and waited nearly 12 hours, but the proposal actually regressed," adding, "The proposal maintained the existing excess profit-based incentive (OPI) system and the 50% cap on performance bonuses, rather than making performance bonuses transparent." He added, "We demanded 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 post-mediation has broken down."
The NLRC, which handled this post-mediation, said, "The gap between the two sides' positions is large, and at the union's request to halt post-mediation, we decided to conclude this round without presenting a mediation plan," adding, "We can support additional post-mediation at any time."
However, Chairperson Choi said of whether to join an extension of the NLRC's post-mediation, "It ended today." On the prospect of autonomous talks with management, Choi noted, "If the company brings a proper agenda, we are willing to listen."