Workers are seen at Samsung Biologics' factory in Incheon, Gyeonggi Province, May 6. Yonhap
Labor disputes over performance-based pay and profit sharing were spilling over to major Korean industries Monday, with companies like Samsung Biologics and Kakao Corp. facing standoffs with unionized workers.
The bio arm of Samsung Group has been continuing its work-to-rule campaign, after a five-day strike held in early May, as management and the labor union failed to reach an agreement in wage negotiations.
Around 2,800 of its 4,000 union members participated in the walkout, the first collective action since the company was founded in 2011.
Unionized members reportedly demanded a one-off cash bonus of 30 million won ($19,946), an average 14 percent increase in wages and performance-based pay equivalent to 20 percent of operating profit.
The management is said to have proposed a 6.2 percent increase in wages.
The two sides have held talks under the mediation of the labor ministry on May 8 but failed to narrow their differences.
Samsung Biologics estimated damage caused from the five-day strike could amount to around 150 billion won. The ongoing work-to-rule campaign has also partially disrupted the company's production line, a company official claimed.
Friction between the labor union and management is also brewing at Kakao, the operator of the country's popular messenger service.
Unionized members at the IT firm have filed an arbitration request with the Gyeonggi Regional Labor Relations Commission, after it failed to reach an agreement in wage negotiations with management, according to industry insiders.
Source: Korea Times News
