As the risk of a strike at Samsung Electronics grows, Kim Young-hoon, Minister of Employment and Labor (MOEL), is expected to step in as a mediator by meeting with management over the weekend, following talks with the labor union leadership.
According to industry sources on the 16th, the Minister could meet with Samsung Electronics management as early as that day. With concerns about a strike mounting, it appears the Minister is seeking to mediate directly.
The Minister met the previous day with Choi Seung-ho, Chairperson of the Samsung Electronics chapter of the Samsung Group Super-enterprise Labor Union (Super-enterprise Union), the largest union at Samsung Electronics. The Super-enterprise Union asked the Minister to have the company replace its chief negotiator to resume talks and to ensure a "substantive change in the company's position."
The Super-enterprise Union is demanding institutionalization of fixed bonuses equal to 15% of operating profit and the removal of the cap. If there is no progress in negotiations, it plans an 18-day strike from the 21st to July 7.
Jun Young-hyun, vice chairman and CEO of Samsung Electronics and head of the DS (semiconductors) division, and other top executives also met with the Super-enterprise Union the previous day but failed to find any significant common ground.