South Korean minister urges Samsung union, management to settle wage talks

SEOUL, May 19 (Yonhap) -- Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan on Tuesday called on Samsung Electronics Co.'s labor union and management to make a settlement in wage talks, as the two sides are in final negotiations before the planned strike by Samsung workers.

"The reality is that everyone is concerned about the ripple effects a strike at Samsung Electronics would bring," Kim said in a parliamentary industry committee meeting, stressing that he hopes Samsung workers and management can reach a last-minute deal to avert a walkout, while making clear he does not want to affect the ongoing mediation process between the two sides.

Samsung and its largest labor union were in their final day of government-led wage mediation Tuesday. The first round of mediation, which was held last week, ended without a deal, as the two sides remained divided over performance-based bonuses.

The labor union of the world's largest memory chip maker has been threatening to launch an 18-day general strike starting Thursday, demanding fixed performance bonuses equal to 15 percent of the semiconductor division's operating profit, along with the removal of payout caps.

Samsung's chip division posted a record operating profit of 53.7 trillion won (US$35.8 billion) in the first quarter of this year, on the back of robust global chip demand fueled by the boom in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

"I have this sense of urgency on what would we be able to do in the future if we all know about the adverse impact a strike would have, but fail to resolve the issue," Kim said.