Samsung Electronics CEO Chun Young-hyun and President Roh Tae-moon have asked employees, "Please ensure our future competitiveness is not lost," regarding the progress of wage negotiations.

Samsung Electronics Seocho Office [Yonhap News Photo]

According to industry sources on the 7th, the two CEOs announced this through the company's internal bulletin board on the afternoon of the same day.

Vice Chairman Chun and President Roh stated, "During the wage agreement negotiations, the company has presented alternatives by comprehensively considering the future competitiveness of employees and the company, and the business operating conditions, and we have sought to broaden mutual understanding through dialogue with the labor union. However, we regret that a final agreement has not yet been reached."

They added, "In this challenging global business environment, all management, including myself, will take a responsible approach to ensure we do not lose our future competitiveness. We also ask all employees to do their best in their respective roles to prevent the loss of our future competitiveness."

They further commented, "The company will continue discussions with an open mind and strive to establish a direction that employees can empathize with."

This is interpreted as the two CEOs directly engaging with employees to express their willingness to resolve the conflict through dialogue, as the dispute over performance bonuses with the union is escalating towards a strike.

Samsung Electronics and its labor union have been engaged in negotiations for the 2026 wage agreement since December of last year. However, negotiations were suspended due to significant differences in views on performance bonus criteria, and the Samsung Electronics Union has announced its intention to go on a full-scale strike for 18 days starting from the 21st.

Earlier, at the intensive wage negotiation meeting for 2026 held at the end of March, the company proposed to employees in the Device Solutions (DS) division, which handles the semiconductor business, that they would receive compensation exceeding that of competitors if they achieve the No. 1 position in the domestic industry. This would involve using more than 10% of operating profit as a fund for performance bonuses, which is higher than competitors.

Furthermore, the company stated it would step back from its previous stance of "maintaining the performance bonus cap" and would allow employees to receive bonuses exceeding the cap through special rewards. They also promised to continue providing rewards at a special bonus level if similar performance to this year is achieved in the future.

However, the union rejected the company's proposal and suspended negotiations. The union's position is that the systemic framework for calculating performance bonuses needs to be changed, such as permanently "abolishing the performance bonus cap," rather than providing one-time special rewards.

The union claims that 15% of operating profit should be used as a fund for performance bonuses. Considering Samsung Electronics' projected operating profit of around 300 trillion won this year, this amounts to approximately 45 trillion won.

With the union's announced strike date approximately two weeks away, the conflict between Samsung Electronics and its labor union is extending beyond the company and becoming a national economic issue. If the full-scale strike materializes, the estimated damage to Samsung Electronics is approximately 30 trillion won.