[Editorial] For the Future, Samsung Electronics' Union Must Make a Broad-Minded Decision

Labor and management at Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. will resume negotiations for two days starting on the 11th under the government's post-mediation recommendation process. It has been 45 days since talks were suspended in March. Post-mediation refers to a procedure in which the Labor Relations Commission intervenes at a workplace where mediation has been halted and a strike is imminent. Once post-mediation begins, mediators present a new proposal on the specific dispute, and the two sides continue discussions based on it.
If a strike at Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. becomes a reality, the damage would not be limited to a single company. It would amount to a national disaster. In the semiconductor race, where speed is everything, a catastrophic shutdown of advanced production lines over bonus issues must be prevented. This is the time for the government to take responsibility and act as a mediator. With the sense that this may be the last chance, it must do everything possible to bring labor and management to an agreement.
The union has accepted post-mediation, but internal conflict is also deepening. The National Samsung Electronics Union, the second-largest union, and members of the DX Division, which handles finished products, want to secure a companywide fund and distribute bonuses as evenly as possible. However, the Samsung Electronics supra-enterprise labor union branch, which represents labor in the post-mediation process, has rejected that approach, pushing the conflict between unions to an extreme.
The supra-enterprise union branch is made up mostly of workers in the Device Solutions Division, which accounts for about 80% of its roughly 70,000 members. As a result, it has focused on bonus demands for the Device Solutions Division. Internal strife has intensified because the branch has insisted on a Device Solutions-centered line even in post-mediation. Samsung Labor Union Donghaeng, the third-largest union, has already withdrawn from the joint struggle headquarters. The National Samsung Electronics Union, the second-largest union, could take a similar path. It recently demanded an apology, saying the branch chair made a threatening remark that they would be excluded from negotiations.
A strike has been announced over demands that 15% of profits be paid as bonuses and that a cap on bonuses be abolished. But the bitter fight among workers over how bonuses should be distributed is unprecedented. Samsung Electronics' global standing in semiconductors was not secured by any single company acting alone. It was built on national support and the attention of the entire public.
These extraordinary profits should be fairly shared with workers at an appropriate level, while also making room for more reinvestment for the future. The semiconductor industry will need astronomical levels of investment as it enters the era of a major artificial intelligence (AI) upheaval. The outcome will depend on the scale of investment. That is likely why the president and the government have expressed unusual concern.
President Lee Jae-myung said, "It is not about only saving myself; we need a spirit of solidarity so that all workers and all citizens can live together." Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon said, "We cannot deny that countless partner companies and local residents helped make Samsung Electronics what it is today." Both statements are true. Public opinion is also unfavorable toward a union that shows no concern for the future of the company or the country and cares only about its own interests. The union should step back and make a decision that serves the greater good.