Samsung executives, presidential office press for talks as union holds firm on May 21 walkout Members of Samsung Electronics' labor union gather for a rally at the tech giant's Pyeongtaek campus in Gyeonggi Province on April 23. (Newsis) Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon met Friday with the head of Samsung Electronics’ largest labor union in a last-minute effort to avert a planned walkout, as pressure mounted on both labor and management over what could become the second strike in company history.Kim visited the union office at Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek campus in Gyeonggi Province in the afternoon and held talks with union Chair Choi Seung-ho. The talks centered on the planned full-scale strike and the state of wage negotiations, according to industry sources.The minister’s intervention came as concerns grew that the walkout, scheduled to begin May 21, could go ahead despite a series of last-minute efforts to bring the union back to the negotiating table.Before Kim’s visit, Choi held a separate afternoon meeting with Samsung’s top executives in the Device Solutions division. Jun Young-hyun, vice chair and head of the DS division, and other senior executives spoke with the union chief for about 40 minutes from around 2:20 p.m., but the meeting ended without any clear shift in position.After the meeting, the union said Kim had shown a clear understanding of its position and pledged to convey its concerns to management.The union said it asked that Samsung replace its chief negotiator and make a substantive shift in its stance before talks resume. It added that, if negotiations reopen on that basis, it would return to the table in good faith.Pressure builds for breakthroughThe presidential office added to calls for a negotiated settlement, citing Samsung Electronics’ importance to the national economy.“We sincerely hope that no situation such as a strike will occur and that labor and management will bring the talks to a successful close, given the large role Samsung Electronics plays in the national economy,” Lee Kyu-youn, senior presidential secretary for public relations, said during a briefing.Asked whether the government was considering emergency arbitration, Lee said it was “not yet at a stage where a decision can be made.” If invoked, emergency arbitration would require the union to suspend all strike activity for 30 days.Samsung’s leadership also issued a rare public apology over the labor dispute, with top executives including Jun and Roh Tae-moon, president and head of the Device eXperience division, saying they had failed to resolve the standoff.“We have caused great concern and burden to the public, shareholders and the government over Samsung Electronics’ labor-management issues,” the company said. “As our achievements have grown, society’s expectations of Samsung have become stricter and greater, but we failed to fully recognize that.”The executives said Samsung could not afford to lose time to internal conflict amid intensifying global competition, particularly in semiconductors, where production lines run around the clock.Union holds firmSamsung also sent a letter to the union, laying out its position on key issues and calling for further talks. The union rejected the offer, saying it would be willing to discuss the matter only after June 7, when the planned strike is scheduled to end.More than 50,000 Samsung Electronics employees are expected to take part, underscoring the scale of the planned walkout.Samsung said that during mediation by the National Labor Relations Commission in March, it had proposed setting the pool for its overall performance incentive at either 10 percent of operating profit or 20 percent of economic value added. It also said it had proposed a separate uncapped special reward program, while keeping the current OPI system in place.The union dismissed the response as a repeat of the company’s previous position. Choi has said the union would “properly exercise the rights guaranteed by the Constitution.”Legal pressure growsSamsung has asked the Suwon District Court to ban what it describes as unlawful strike activity, citing the need to keep safety protection facilities at its semiconductor plants running, prevent wafer damage and stop the occupation of key facilities.The court has held two hearings on the request, with a decision expected by May 20. Legal and industry observers say any injunction would likely be limited to safety-related facilities and certain essential processes, rather than blocking the strike altogether.The Korea Shareholder Movement Headquarters, a minority shareholder group, has also said it would take legal action against both the union and management if the strike disrupts semiconductor production or damages corporate value.The group argued that the union’s demand to allocate a fixed portion of operating profit to bonuses was not a working condition subject to collective bargaining, and warned management against accepting such a formula in advance.The union is facing pressure from within as well. Some workers in Samsung’s DX division, which oversees smartphones, TVs and home appliances, have criticized the union chapter for focusing too heavily on demands from the chip-focused DS division and are seeking legal action to stop it from signing a wage agreement or proceeding with the strike.Industry sources say a prolonged walkout could weigh not only on Samsung’s production but also on customer confidence and supply commitments.