Samsung's unionised workers to bring wage dispute to arbitration panel

Samsung's unionised workers in South Korea said on Friday they will take a labour dispute with the tech giant for arbitration to the state's labour relations commission.

"Despite record high earnings, the management has dismissed the unions' demands all the time, citing business difficulties," Samsung's four unions said. "At every wage negotiation, the company unilaterally decides on a final proposal and announces it," they added, according to a report in the Yonhap news agency.

The unionised workers, which accounted for around 7.4% of the total 121,000 workers, have engaged in wage negotiations with the management since late December.


The two parties have so far held 20 rounds of talks and negotiations but have not been able to iron out differences, including a union request for more than a 10% pay increase.

When an arbitration claim is filed at the National Labor Relations Commission, a committee will be set up to look into the dispute for 10 days to mediate between the two.

Last year, the unions had threatened to go on strike after the commission failed to bring the two parties to an agreement but did not carry it out.

Separately, Samsung Electronics' management and its workers agreed last Friday to an average 4.1% pay raise for the year. The company has put on hold raises for its board members due to poor performance amid a worsening chip glut and a global slowdown.

The pay raise is lower than the 9% wage hike of the previous year, which was the highest in a decade, and lower than the initial demand from the workers.

Both parties hammered out the compromise, taking into consideration the external headwinds that caused the quarterly profit to plunge nearly 96% in the first quarter.

The management decided to apply last year's pay policy for board members, effectively putting off its initial plan to raise the pay ceiling for board members by 17%.