The second post-adjustment between Samsung Electronics labor and management ended 40 minutes earlier than planned. Post-adjustment is a procedure in which the National Labor Relations Commission mediates both sides after labor-management negotiations break down.
On the 18th, Samsung Electronics labor and management held the second post-adjustment from 10 a.m. over issues including the performance bonus pool. The session ended about 40 minutes earlier than the originally expected closing time of 7 p.m. Choi Seung-ho, head of the Samsung Electronics branch of the Samsung Group Supra-Enterprise Union, said, "We are negotiating in good faith, and since (the post-adjustment) will be extended to tomorrow, we plan to appear at 10 a.m." Park Jeong-beom, head of mediation at the National Labor Relations Commission, said, "(Ending earlier than planned) means the meeting proceeded smoothly," adding, "In that sense, it is a good sign." However, the contents of the meeting were not disclosed.
The second post-adjustment came together after Samsung Electronics Chair Lee Jae-yong issued a public apology, saying, "Union members, Samsung family members, we are one body, one family." Earlier, Samsung Electronics labor and management held the first post-adjustment from the 11th to the 13th. At that session, the commission presented various alternatives, but at 2:50 a.m. on the 13th the union asked to halt the post-adjustment, leading to a breakdown.
One of the alternatives presented by the commission at the time was to pay 12% of operating profit as a special reward, in addition to the performance bonus (OPI), if the company ranked No. 1 in sales and operating profit. The union was reported to have rejected this, arguing that 15% of operating profit should be used as the performance bonus pool and that the current performance bonus cap of 50% of annual salary should be abolished.
The government says it will consider invoking emergency mediation if even the second post-adjustment between Samsung Electronics labor and management collapses. Emergency mediation is an exceptional procedure invoked by the Minister of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) when a work stoppage is likely to significantly harm the national economy. Once emergency mediation is invoked, industrial action is banned for 30 days, and during this period the commission presents a mediation plan. Unlike post-adjustment, the mediation plan issued at this time is binding and cannot be rejected by labor or management.
President Lee Jae-myung said on the 18th on X (formerly Twitter), "In the Republic of Korea, which has adopted a liberal democratic basic order and a capitalist market economic order, labor must be respected as much as corporations, and corporate management rights must be respected as much as labor rights." He added, "Under the current Constitution, all citizens' basic rights are guaranteed, but they may be restricted for the public welfare within the scope that does not infringe on their essential content."
The previous day, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok also said in a public address that "if a Samsung Electronics strike is feared to cause enormous damage to the national economy, the government will mobilize every possible response, including emergency mediation."
Meanwhile, the court sided with the company in Samsung Electronics' request for an injunction to ban illegal industrial action by the union. The 31st Civil Division of the Suwon District Court (Presiding Judge Shin Woo-jung) on the 18th partially granted Samsung Electronics' application for an injunction to ban illegal industrial action against the Samsung Electronics branch of the Supra-Enterprise Labor Union and the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union.
The bench said, "(The union) must not suspend, abolish or interfere with, or cause its members to engage in acts that would, during the industrial action period, prevent each facility from being maintained and operated with the same level of staffing, operating hours, operating scale and duty of care as under normal conditions prior to the industrial action."