S. Korea Labor Minister Urges Dialogue to Avert Samsung Electronics Strike

SEOUL, May 13 (Yonhap) -- Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon urged continued dialogue between Samsung Electronics Co. and its labor union Wednesday after government-led wage negotiation efforts fell through while withholding any direct response to whether the government may exercise an emergency measure against a looming strike. The two sides failed to reach an agreement early Wednesday after two days of government-led mediation talks that had been viewed as a last-ditch effort to avert the strike scheduled for May 21. "Dialogue is desperately needed. It has to be made even if it means staying up all night," Kim said in a YouTube interview when asked about the possibility of taking the emergency measure. Under labor law, the labor minister has the right to exercise an "emergency adjustment" measure that can suspend a strike for up to 30 days if it is deemed likely to endanger the daily lives of citizens or hurt the national economy. "While it is the union's decision whether to strike or not, the government will make utmost efforts to arrange talks to avert a strike," he said. The union and management have remained sharply divided over performance-based bonuses tied to the company's earnings amid an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven boom that left the leading chipmaker with record-high earnings in the first quarter. The union has demanded performance bonuses equivalent to 15 percent of operating profit, along with the removal of the payout cap and the formal institutionalization of the bonus system. The management, meanwhile, proposed allocating 10 percent of operating profit to bonuses and offering a one-time special compensation package that it said exceeds industry standards.