Korean district court restricts Samsung union strike scope ahead of planned walkout

Seoul [South Korea], May 18 : Samsung Electronics won a partial court injunction Monday restricting its labor union's planned strike. The court ordered the union to maintain usual staffing levels for key safety and facility protection work during the industrial action. According to a news report by The Korea Herald, the decision places significant limits on the union's full-scale strike scheduled to begin Thursday, though it does not ban the strike itself.

The Suwon District Court partially accepted the April 16 injunction request filed by Samsung Electronics against the union. The ruling ordered the labor organization not to interfere with the operation of safety protection facilities or work needed to prevent facility damage and product deterioration. This legal intervention came as the company sought to shield its manufacturing infrastructure from potential disruptions caused by the mass walkout.

"The union must not suspend, abolish or obstruct the maintenance and operation of safety protection facilities at the same level as usual including staffing, operating hours, operating scale and duty of care on weekdays, weekends and holidays nor instruct its members to do so during the period of industrial action," the report quoted the court in its ruling.

As per the report, the court further barred the union from obstructing essential work required to prevent facility damage and wafer deterioration. It mandated that such operations be maintained at prestrike levels to ensure the stability of the production environment. Beyond staffing requirements, the court prohibited the Samsung Electronics Company Union and its chief, Choi Seung-ho, from occupying all or part of Samsung's facilities, installing locks, or blocking other workers from entering the premises.

This ruling arrived just three days before the planned industrial action. The union previously announced its intention to launch an 18-day full-scale strike starting Thursday. Labor leaders predicted that approximately 50,000 Samsung employees would participate in the walkout, which would mark a significant escalation in the ongoing dispute.

Meanwhile, Samsung Electronics management and the union entered what is expected to be their final round of negotiations before the scheduled strike. The talks took place on Monday at the National Labor Relations Commission at the Government Complex Sejong, with the government acting as a mediator between the two parties.

The union demanded the removal of the current cap on performance-based bonuses, which is currently set at 50 per cent of an employee's annual salary. It also sought the codification of a bonus plan that would allocate 15 per cent of Samsung Electronics' operating profit as the specific funding source for such payments.

According to the report, the Samsung management stated it would provide industry-leading compensation as a special reward if the company regains the top position in the sector. However, the company maintained that it cannot accept institutionalizing the removal of the bonus cap, leading to the current deadlock.

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