Samsung Biologics (207940) and its labor union will return to mediation next week after months of deadlock over wage increases and changes to the company's personnel system.
The union said on the 1st that post-mediation talks are scheduled for Sept. 8. "Since the company has said it will also submit a proposal once the process begins, we expect the mediation to move quickly," the union said. It added that a meeting between the company and the Jungbu Regional Employment and Labor Office was held the previous day, and that the Incheon Regional Labor Relations Commission would help move up the schedule for the talks. Post-mediation is a second round of mediation conducted with the consent of both sides to resolve a labor dispute after an initial mediation has ended.
Attention now turns to whether the two sides can find common ground. Samsung Biologics and the union applied for post-mediation on the 14th of last month, meaning the talks will begin about a month later. After mediation broke down on March 23, the union staged a partial strike in late April and a full walkout from May 1 to 5, followed by a work-to-rule campaign in which members refused overtime and holiday shifts.
