Samsung, union hold final mediation as strike deadline nears

Samsung Electronics and its largest labor union resumed government-led wage mediation Tuesday, entering the final day of talks in a last-ditch effort to avert a strike at the world's largest memory chipmaker. The two-day negotiations resumed days after the first round of mediation ended without a deal, as the two sides remained divided over performance-based bonuses ahead of an 18-day strike set to begin Thursday. Labor and management remain sharply split over performance-based bonuses tied to earnings from the tech giant's artificial intelligence (AI)-related semiconductor business, amid an ongoing global memory supercycle. The company has proposed maintaining the current excess profit incentive system while allowing the bonus pool to be calculated based on 10 percent of operating profit. It also proposed introducing a special compensation system, saying it would create a more flexible incentive structure. In contrast, the union is demanding fixed performance bonuses equal to 15 percent of the semiconductor division's operating profit, along with the removal of payout caps. The two sides

Original source: Korea Times