Samsung Biologics(207940) Labor and management decided to resolve the protracted wage and collective bargaining (wage and collective agreement) talks through external mediation. With both sides accepting the "post-adjustment" procedure proposed by the employment and labor office, the talks entered a new phase.
On the 14th, according to the pharmaceutical-bio industry, Samsung Biologics management and the Win-Win Labor Union recently agreed to post-adjustment proposed by the Central Regional Employment and Labor Office under the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL). Representatives of both sides signed the related documents that day and plan to submit them to the Incheon Regional Labor Relations Commission.
Post-adjustment is a procedure in which the labor commission and others step in again to mediate to support a labor-management agreement even after the labor dispute mediation process ends. The specific schedule and the composition of the Commissioners have not yet been finalized. It is known that labor and management reached a consensus to proceed with mediation swiftly once the composition of the Commissioners is completed.
Samsung Biologics labor and management have been pursuing this year's wage and collective agreement since the end of last year. With differing positions on the wage increase rate, bonus calculation standards, and expansion of benefits, the negotiations ran in parallel for months.
Management proposed a 6.2% increase in base salary and a lump-sum payment of 6 million won, among other items, but the union demanded an increase in base salary plus a separate flat increase and a settlement payment. They also had major differences over performance bonuses. The union initially demanded paying 20% of operating profit as performance bonuses, later lowering it to 15%, but they did not reach an agreement.
In addition, the union has demanded adjustments to starting salaries for new hires, allocation of restricted stock units (RSUs), payment of labor-management win-win incentive payments and special incentive payments, expansion of contributions to the in-house employee welfare fund, and increases in shift allowances.
As talks dragged on, the union's industrial action continued. After launching a partial strike in April, it staged the first full strike since the company's founding in May. It then pursued a work-to-rule campaign, including refusing overtime and holiday work. The company's cumulative losses due to production disruptions are estimated at about 150 billion won.
To strengthen its bargaining power, the union also withdrew from the Samsung Group's supra-enterprise union and shifted to an independent bargaining system. In a members' vote last month, 96.5% of the 2,392 voters supported the change in organizational form.
Labor and management continued talks afterward but failed to narrow differences on key issues. With the acceptance of this post-adjustment and the labor commission stepping in to mediate, attention is on whether the prolonged wage and collective agreement can move toward a settlement.
Union Commissioner Park Jae-seong said, "At the 24th collective bargaining session held on the 11th, management presented an active view on post-adjustment, and the union decided to accept it after review," and added, "It may take time to compose the Commissioners, but once the composition is complete, both sides formed a consensus to proceed with speed."