Samsung Biologics Union Agrees to Return to Negotiation Table After First-Ever Strike

SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Biologics, the biotech arm of Samsung Group, has agreed to return to the negotiation table this week, a corporate official said. The two sides will renegotiate on Monday under the mediation of the Jungbu regional employment and labor office, after the first round of talks fell through on Thursday. The strike is the first ever for the union, with the walkout entering its third day on Sunday. "Our decision to respond to the labor ministry's arbitration request during the walkout was part of our sincere efforts to sort the issue out through dialogue," a company source said. The representative urged the labor union to stop its "irrational" demands and collective action and return to the negotiation table. During the first arbitration meeting held last week, the labor union reportedly demanded the company change all of its bargaining committee members as a prerequisite for talks. Unionized workers of Samsung Biologics have been staging a strike since Friday. They have demanded a 14 percent increase in both base and performance-related pay, a one-off cash incentive of 30 million won (US$20,389.9) per worker, and bonuses equivalent to 20 percent of annual operating profit. The company has proposed a combined 6.2 percent increase in base and performance pay. Around 2,800 of 4,000 unionized members have participated in the collective action, according to the company's labor union. The company claims the walkout could cause at least 640 billion won worth of damage, which is equivalent to around half of the company's sales for the first quarter. The union said it plans to continue the strike until Tuesday. Unionized workers of Samsung Biologics called for the company to establish "fair and transparent" personnel management standards. "What the labor union demands is that the management should exercise personnel and management authority in a transparent manner so that the employees can work while trusting the company," the labor union said in a release. The labor union is said to have proposed a collective bargaining agreement that includes clauses requiring prior consent by the union in regard to new hiring, personnel evaluations and decisions on mergers and acquisitions.