Choi Seung-ho, the president of the Samsung Electronics Labor Union, takes questions from reporters after attending a follow-up mediation session at the National Labor Relations Commission on May 20, 2026, a day before workers are set to go on strike. (pool photo)
Labor and management at Samsung Electronics failed to reach a deal on Wednesday after three days of follow-up mediation by the government, with the two sides clashing over how bonuses should be distributed.The company’s largest union said that it will go on strike on Thursday as previously planned. Talks broke down on Wednesday during a third round of follow-up mediation by the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) at the central government complex in Sejong. “When we reconvened today, management once again repeated that it hadn’t reached a decision and failed to state its final position,” said Choi Seung-ho, the head of the Samsung Electronics chapter of the Samsung Group United Union, explaining that follow-up mediations overseen by the NLRC had “ended.”“The union will go ahead with its lawful strike on Thursday as scheduled,” he added. “The union did its best to find points of agreement during the three days of follow-up mediation,” Choi told reporters. “At around 10 pm on Tuesday, the union accepted a mediation proposal put forward by the NLRC, but management rejected this proposal.”The union leader said that just before the NLRC commissioner was set to officially declare the mediation a failure, Yeo Myeong-gu, a member of the company’s bargaining committee, withdrew the rejection of the proposal and requested more time, extending the follow-up mediation into a third day.But at 11 am Wednesday, management once again said it had not reached a decision and failed to present a final position, effectively bringing the NLRC’s follow-up mediation to an end, Choi said.“I want to be clear that we will not stop our efforts to reach a deal even during the strike,” the union leader went on to say. “Once again, the union had accepted the NLRC’s mediation proposal.”Samsung Electronics management also put out a statement following the breakdown of talks, calling it “very regrettable” that follow-up mediation had failed to end in a deal. The company said it would keep the door open to talks to avoid the “worst-case scenario,” saying that a strike must be avoided “at all costs.” “A final agreement could not be reached during the follow-up mediation because accepting the labor union’s excessive demands could undermine the company’s basic management principles,” the company added.“Despite us accepting most points regarding the scale and makeup of bonuses, the union insisted on compensation at a level that would be difficult to justify socially, even for loss-making divisions. This flies in the face of the company’s basic principle of compensation reflecting performance,” the company said. “We determined that abandoning this principle would be a disservice not only to our own company, but other companies and industries as well,” the company went on. “Nonetheless, we will continue efforts to resolve the issue as long as it takes, whether it be through additional mediation or direct dialogue with the union.”By Bae Ji-hyun, staff reporter; Kwon Hyo-jung, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
