South Korea’s chipmaker Samsung Electronics’ trade union said on Wednesday it will launch a planned 18-day strike after talks with management collapsed over a dispute on bonus payouts. “Around 10pm on May 19, the labour union agreed to the mediation proposal put forward by the National Labour Relations Commission; however, management expressed its refusal,” it said in a statement, adding that it would begin striking on Thursday. “The labour union will lawfully commence a general strike tomorrow...
In South Korea, the clock is ticking on what threatens to become the most consequential labour dispute in recent history – and Seoul is running out of patience. With 50,000 workers at Samsung Electronics poised to walk off the job on Thursday in an 18-day strike, the government of President Lee Jae Myung finds itself cornered by a crisis it cannot afford to mishandle, with up to 100 trillion won (US$66.7 billion) in projected economic damage on the line, plus the potential disruption to global...
South Korea will pursue all options, including emergency arbitration, to avoid a labour strike at the country’s biggest employer Samsung Electronics and to minimise any damage if one does occur, its prime minister said on Sunday. The world’s largest memory chipmaker and its South Korean labour union will resume pay talks on Monday with a government mediator, in a move that could ease concerns over a potentially disruptive strike at the tech giant that accounts for nearly a quarter of the...