Seoul, May 5 (IANS). Unionized employees of Samsung Biologics, the biotech arm of Samsung Group, continued their first general strike for the fifth day on Tuesday. They are demanding higher salaries and increase in performance-based compensation.
According to the union, the strike began on Friday in which around 2,800 of the union’s 4,000 members took part.
It is the first strike since the company was founded in 2011, Yonhap news agency reported.
The union plans to launch a ‘work-to-rule’ campaign from Wednesday after ending the five-day strike.
The unionized workers are demanding a 14 percent increase in their basic wages and performance-related pay, a one-time cash incentive of 30 million won (about US$20,390) for each worker, and a bonus equal to 20 percent of annual operating profits.
The company has proposed an overall increase of 6.2 percent in basic pay and performance-based pay.
The two sides resumed talks on Monday, but were unable to reach an agreement. They plan to hold two more meetings later this week to narrow their differences.
Union-affiliated workers staged a three-day partial strike last month, causing losses of at least 150 billion won (about US$101.5 million), according to the company.
A company source said, “Our decision to respond to the Labor Ministry’s request for mediation during the strike was a part of our sincere efforts to resolve the matter through negotiations.”
The representative urged the labor unions to stop their “irrational” demands and collective action and return to the negotiating table.
During the first mediation meeting held last week, the labor union reportedly demanded the replacement of all members of its bargaining committee as a condition of talks with the company.
According to the company’s labor union, about 2,800 out of 4,000 union members have taken part in this collective action.
The company claims the strike could cause losses of at least 640 billion won, equivalent to about half of the company’s first quarter sales.
–IANS
SHK/AS