Samsung’s Cross-Company Union Will Put Honam Semiconductor Investment on 2027 Bargaining Agenda

Samsung Electronics’ cross-company union says it will press ahead with plans to place the Honam semiconductor investment project on the agenda for 2027 collective bargaining, despite new government guidance limiting when investment decisions can become labor-dispute issues.

The union said its position had not changed and that matters affecting working conditions during the project would be included in its bargaining demands. The cross-company union led negotiations on Samsung Electronics’ management performance bonuses in May.

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Our position that the mega-project should be placed on the agenda for 2027 collective bargaining has not changed.

The Labor Ministry’s guidance says decisions to build or relocate a plant are not themselves mandatory bargaining subjects. However, resulting changes to working conditions can be negotiated when they appear in concrete policies or plans, internal notices, or documents submitted to a labor-management council. The guidance followed President Lee Jae Myung’s request for clearer standards after the union said it would make the project a bargaining issue and demanded performance bonuses linked to operating profits.

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Performance bonuses are best resolved through voluntary negotiations between labor and management.

The union said performance bonuses should be settled through voluntary negotiations between labor and management. It also urged the government to focus more on improving conditions for semiconductor workers in South Korea and attracting skilled personnel.

The National Samsung Electronics Labor Union, the company’s second-largest union, called the ministry’s guidance an anti-labor measure that would broadly exclude workers’ demands for a share of company performance from collective bargaining and labor disputes. It argued that the form and calculation of bonuses directly affect wages and working conditions. The union warned that the guidance could give management grounds to refuse negotiations and accused the government of making workers’ constitutional rights conditional on business and shareholder interests.

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It is an anti-labor measure that uniformly excludes workers’ legitimate demands for a share of performance from collective bargaining and labor disputes, while restricting the three labor rights guaranteed by the Constitution through an administrative guideline.