Unionized workers of Samsung Biologics continue strike for 2nd day

Seoul, May 2 (IANS) Unionized workers at Samsung Biologics, the biotech arm of Samsung Group, continued to stage a strike on Saturday for a second day, according to union officials, with the union and the company showing little signs of bridging gaps over wages and other issues.

The union of Samsung Biologics began the strike on Friday, marking the first walkout since the company’s establishment in 2011, reports Yonhap news agency.

The union is seeking a 14 percent increase in both base and performance-related pay, a one-off cash incentive of 30 million won per worker and bonuses equivalent to 20 percent of annual operating profit.

The company has proposed a combined 6.2 percent increase in base and performance pay.

Samsung Biologics said earlier it was deploying all available personnel to minimise disruption but acknowledged that some impact to operations may be unavoidable.

The company estimated that losses from a full-scale strike could exceed 640 billion won (US$433 million), roughly half of its first-quarter sales of 1.26 trillion won.

In a message to employees released Friday, the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer John Rim urged them to carefully consider whether to participate in the strike, warning it could lead to irreversible losses for both the company and its employees.

“The company will continue sincere dialogue with the union to help stabilise labor-management relations and build a workplace based on mutual trust and respect,” he said.

Negotiations between the two sides have failed to bridge significant differences despite 13 rounds of talks held between December and March.

Last month, Samsung Biologics filed for a court injunction to block the planned strike. The court partially upheld the request, restricting industrial action across three of the company’s nine production stages while allowing strike activities to proceed in the remaining six. The company immediately appealed the ruling.

Samsung Biologics and its union are scheduled to meet again on Monday under mediation by a regional labour office of the labour ministry to discuss the direction of future negotiations.

—IANS

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