Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon will meet with Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) executives to mediate the dispute, just five days before the company's planned general strike.
According to labor sources Wednesday, Minister Kim is scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting with Samsung Electronics executives on Thursday. After meeting with Choi Seung-ho, chairman of the Samsung Group Supra-Enterprise Labor Union's Samsung Electronics chapter — the largest union at Samsung Electronics — earlier Wednesday, Kim plans to convey the union's demands to management and actively pursue mediation. Some observers expect that the suspended negotiations could resume on Thursday next.
The union has asked Minister Kim to push for the replacement of Vice President Kim Hyung-ro, the company's chief negotiator, and for a substantive shift in management's position as conditions for resuming talks. The union is demanding that performance bonuses be fixed at 15% of operating profit and that the cap on bonuses be abolished and institutionalized. Management, on the other hand, has proposed maintaining the existing system while offering uncapped special rewards.
The union plans to stage an 18-day general strike from the 21st through the 7th of next month. According to labor sources, up to 50,000 union members are expected to participate in the strike.
