Choi Seung-ho, center, head of Samsung Electronics' largest labor union, speaks to reporters after attending the third government-led mediation talks with management to reach an agreement over performance-based bonuses at the National Labor Relations Commission office in the administrative city of Sejong, Wednesday. Yonhap
President Lee Jae Myung said Wednesday that collective actions by labor unions should remain within "certain limits" and do not cause "serious pain" to others.
Lee made the remarks at a Cabinet meeting after last-minute wage negotiations between Samsung Electronics and its labor union broke down, only a day before the union's planned general strike.
"It is all good for certain labor unions to ... pursue their interests through their right to collective action, but there must be certain limits to it," Lee said.
He said the right to collective action should not be abused or exercised in a way that causes "serious harm" to others, adding that it may be the government's role to help members of society observe those limits and to fulfill its responsibilities when the limits are crossed.
