"Samsung Electronics about to reach wage agreement", 23 January 2022

Samsung Electronics is on the brink of settling the first-ever collective bargaining agreement over wages in its 52-year history.

A representative from one of four Samsung Electronics unions said Sunday that the conglomerate's unionized workers started voting a day earlier on the management's final proposal for 2021 wages, submitted last Friday to the four unions...

Although the details of the proposal remain yet to be known, company management reportedly refused to accept the request for an additional salary hike, citing the completion of last year's annual spending and investing.

Instead, the management is said to have promised to give employees more days off and to reform its peak wage system, which refers to a wage system that cuts salaries gradually for senior workers several years before retirement.

If the offer wins support votes from the majority of unionized workers with a voter turnout of at least 50 percent, union and management will be able to sign a final agreement following three months of wage negotiations.

"The final decision will be made after listening to the opinions of the workers," the union representative said.

Labor and management have met once a week since their wage negotiations started last October, based on the terms of their collective agreement signed last Augus...Both sides have held 15 meetings concerning wage negotiations.

"We will sincerely participate in talks with the unionized workers in compliance with related procedures," a Samsung Electronics official said at that time...

Management has reiterated that it is difficult to raise employee salaries further, given that the company's joint labor-management council already agreed last March to raise the base salary for 2021 by 4.5 percent and the performance-based bonus by 3 percent.

The unionized workers have complained about management's refusal to increase their salaries. However, the plans to reform the vacation and peak wage systems were recognized by the employees, according to sources...