Negotiations deadlocked after union leaks meeting minutes; chuseok settlement falls through
Labor commission orders management to address 18 key demands, calls for top executive at next session
Union resumes strike preparations, warns of collective action if Oct. 1 talks fail
A second post-mediation session between Samsung Biologics management and its union over wage increases and collective bargaining revisions ended Tuesday without result.
The session was held amid a breakdown in mutual trust following the union's unauthorized leak of minutes from the first meeting. It made no progress, in effect dashing hopes of a settlement before the chuseok holiday. The two sides agreed to hold a third session on Oct. 1.
According to industry sources, the parties met Tuesday afternoon at the Incheon Regional Labor Commission for the second post-mediation session.
The roughly two-hour meeting unfolded in a tense atmosphere, overshadowed by the fallout from the union's decision to publicly release — immediately after the Sept. 8 first session — minutes that identified participants by name and quoted their remarks. The unauthorized recording and distribution of meeting minutes is prohibited under labor commission rules, and the breach eroded basic trust at the negotiating table. The two sides also remained sharply divided over union demands for prior agreement on workforce redeployment and organizational restructuring — provisions that touch on management prerogatives.
The labor commission called on both sides to compromise. The union condensed its existing demands into 18 core issues and submitted them to management, and the commission instructed management to prepare and present its position on all 18 points along with a wage proposal. According to the union, the commission recommended that a decision-maker with real authority — preferably the chief executive — attend the Oct. 1 session, and management agreed to comply.
Tensions are running high ahead of that session, however, as the union has begun preparing for a strike and other collective action. It decided to reinstall flags, banners and other promotional materials inside the company. "If the company again fails to offer meaningful concessions at the third post-mediation session on Oct. 1, we will announce a specific date for collective action and issue strike instructions to union members in sequence," the union said.
The Samsung Biologics union staged a partial strike in April and a full strike in May after mediation broke down in March. Those stoppages were estimated to have caused roughly 150 billion won ($108 million) in production disruptions and losses. Should the Oct. 1 session also collapse and trigger a second strike, the company's reliability as a global CMO partner — particularly its ability to meet delivery deadlines — could suffer serious damage.
silverpaper@heraldcorp.com
