Samsung Chairman Calls for Unity Amid Looming Strike

(ATTN: UPDATES throughout with details, labor minister's meeting with executives; ADDS photos)

SEOUL, May 16 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Jae-yong on Saturday called for unity within his company as its labor union plans to begin a major strike next week amid an impasse in wage negotiations.

"Now is the time to wisely gather our strengths and move in one direction," Lee said at Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul after returning from an overseas business trip. "Union members, Samsung family members, we are one body, one family."

Lee said he would take full responsibility and bear the "fierce rain and wind," while apologizing to the company's customers and to the public for causing concern over his company's "internal" matters.

"I truly apologize to our global customers for causing worry and concern for our company's internal issues," he said, bowing multiple times.

Lee's remarks come after the company's largest labor union said Friday it will proceed with the strike despite the company's proposal to resume talks without preconditions.

The 18-day strike is set to begin next Thursday, which could disrupt production at the world's largest memory chipmaker.

The union has said over 46,000 union members have expressed willingness to participate in the strike, adding that the number could rise to more than 50,000.

Government officials have voiced that a strike at Samsung Electronics should be avoided, warning that it could pose significant risks to economic growth.

Observers say that if a full-scale strike takes place, losses to the South Korean economy, which heavily depends on exports, could reach up to 100 trillion won (US$66.7 billion).

Two days of government-led mediation talks ended without an agreement Wednesday, as labor and management remained sharply divided over performance-based bonuses tied to earnings from the company's artificial intelligence (AI)-related semiconductor business amid the ongoing memory supercycle.

Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon separately met Samsung Electronics executives on Saturday and urged them to engage in dialogue with union officials, according to his ministry.

Kim delivered the union's position to the company's management after meeting union officials the previous day, it said.

The company has proposed maintaining the current excess profit incentive system while allowing the bonus pool to be calculated based on either 10 percent of operating profit or economic value added, known as EVA.

It has also proposed introducing a special compensation system, saying it would help create a more flexible incentive structure.

In contrast, the union has demanded fixed performance bonuses equivalent to 15 percent of the operating profit generated by the company's semiconductor division, along with the removal of the payout cap.