Negotiations on Samsung Wages Expected to Be Deferred Until 2024

Seoul, Dec 6 (NationPress) The wage discussions between Samsung Electronics and its largest labor union are likely to be deferred until next year, after a confidence vote concerning the union's leadership took place on Friday.

The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) conducted a confidence vote last week, revealing that 62 percent of its members supported the current leadership, as per industry reports. This indicates that union members continue to have faith in the NSEU leadership to handle wage negotiations.

This confidence vote followed a previous rejection by NSEU members on November 21 of a provisional wage agreement for 2023 and 2024 that had been established by their leadership, according to the Yonhap news agency.

The agreement, which was formulated after a month-long strike by the union in July, proposed a 5.1 percent salary increase along with additional bonuses.

The NSEU is eager to resume negotiations at the earliest opportunity; however, discussions are anticipated to be scheduled for early next year, given that there is less than a month remaining in the current year, sources indicated.

Representing approximately 36,000 workers, the NSEU accounts for around 30 percent of Samsung's total workforce.

In the previous month, unionized employees at Samsung voted against a tentative wage agreement with the company. About 58.6 percent of the 22,000 voters from the NSEU opted to reject this year’s wage proposal.

The agreement was negotiated last week following a month-long strike initiated by the union in July. The wage discussions between the management and the NSEU commenced in January. The NSEU represents approximately 36,000 workers, making up about 30 percent of the company’s workforce.

Reports suggest that the rejected agreement featured a 5.1 percent pay increase along with various bonuses. New rounds of negotiations between the two parties are expected to take place later this week, sources noted.