Samsung Electronics' workers threaten first-ever strike

Samsung Electronics' office building in Seoul (Newsis)

Samsung Electronics could face its first-ever labor strike, as unionized workers have secured the right to legally conduct a walkout after wage talks between management and labor have fallen through, according to industry sources Friday.

The National Labor Relations Commission, a government agency under the Labor Ministry, held a coordinating session to arbitrate the wage deal between the two parties a day earlier, but ended up deciding to stop the talks as the two sides could not reach an agreement.

The Thursday meeting marks the third attempt for the labor commission to arbitrate for both sides. Previously, the commission recommended a one-time mediation extension as a condition for management's submission of its final wage decision plan.

The latest decision has led the labor union, which consists of some 20,000 members, or 16 percent of the company’s employees, to secure the right to legally strike through a vote of its membership. The group is the biggest single labor union in the company.

The union is planning to hold a vote for and against its first-ever labor strike starting Monday, but it will also hold a final round of negotiations with management on the same day to attempt to reach an agreement at the same time.

The union and management held their sixth round of talks over this year's wage increase last month but negotiations broke down as the two sides failed to narrow the gap. The union then brought the dispute to the labor commission for arbitration.

The labor-management council of Samsung Electronics, which recorded its fourth consecutive quarter of losses in the chips business, reportedly sought a 5.74 percent wage increase, while the union requested an 8.1 percent wage hike and the company countered with a 2.5 percent base wage increase.

When previous wage negotiations broke down in 2022 and 2023, the unionized workers filed for a labor dispute mediation with the labor commission and ended up securing the right to strike, but did not actually walk off the job.