After wage and bonus negotiations between labor and management at Samsung Electronics broke down, the Central Labor Relations Commission said on the 13th that it "can support additional post-adjustment at any time." Post-adjustment is a system in which mediation failed but the commission conducts mediation again with the consent of both labor and management.
The commission said that day it "supported talks by presenting various alternatives based on the claims of both labor and management," adding, "the gap between the two sides' positions is large, and the union requested that post-adjustment be halted, so we decided not to present a mediation plan and to end this round of post-adjustment."
Labor and management at Samsung Electronics entered post-adjustment procedures on the 11th but did not reach an agreement. The post-adjustment process ended at 2:50 a.m. on the 13th. Right after post-adjustment, Choi Seung-ho, Chairperson of the Samsung Electronics local of the super-enterprise union, told reporters, "The mediation plan said it would keep the existing Over-Profit Incentive (OPI) system as is, rather than making bonuses more transparent," adding, "the 50% cap on bonuses was also kept as is." He added, "The mediation plan actually went backward."
With post-adjustment collapsing, the likelihood has grown of the general strike the Samsung Electronics union announced for the 21st. The union expects more than 50,000 people to take part in the strike.
Some observers say the government may invoke emergency adjustment authority to block the union's strike. Emergency adjustment authority is an exceptional mediation procedure invoked by the Minister of Labor when a labor action is likely to significantly harm the national economy. It is based on Article 76 of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act. It was invoked during strikes at Daehan Shipbuilding in 1969, Hyundai Motor in 1993, and Asiana Airlines and Korean Air Lines in 2005.
Meanwhile, the commission said it "can provide support at any time if labor and management at Samsung Electronics agree to request additional post-adjustment."