Samsung, labor union to resume talks Wednesday as they edge to avert strike

SEJONG, South Korea — Samsung Electronics and its South Korean labor union will resume talks on Wednesday, the National Labor Relations Commission said, as they edge toward an agreement to avert a damaging and lengthy strike. "The management and union have not reached common ground on one issue," Park Su-keun, chair of the commission, told reporters when asked why more than 15 hours of talks on Tuesday had failed to produce an agreement. He added that it was "the most important issue," without elaborating. Amid pressure from the South Korean government and industry, the two sides are seeking to hash out a deal on bonus payments before nearly 48,000 workers walk off the job for 18 days on Thursday. A strike of that magnitude and length has the potential to inflict significant damage on South Korea's economy as Samsung accounts for almost a quarter of the country's exports. Samsung is also the world's largest memory chip maker and production disruptions could dent global supply at a time when the boom in artificial intelligence has caused shortages. Samsung and the union plan to resume tWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times