Samsung Electronics Labor Union leader Choi Seung-ho, right, holds hands with Yeo Myung-koo, head of the People Team at Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions division, after signing a tentative bonus agreement at Gyeonggi District Employment and Labor Office in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. Joint Press Corps
Samsung Electronics' labor and management reached a last-minute agreement on a bonus system just hours before the company’s labor unions were set to stage a massive strike. But the deal is expected to create ripple effects across industries, with unions at other companies likely to raise similar demands for sharing operating profit.
The two sides signed a tentative agreement Wednesday night institutionalizing a "special performance bonus system” for the chip-making Device Solutions division, funded with 10.5 percent of “a jointly selected business performance indicator.”
The agreement did not clarify what the jointly selected business performance indicator would be, and the two sides have yet to disclose details. However, sources said it is expected to be based on operating profit or a similar indicator. They added that it is unlikely to rely on the company’s existing formula based on added economic value, which the unions have criticized for lacking transparency.
