Samsung's South Korean union sticks to strike plan after talks offer; shares slide
Samsung Electronics' (005930.KS), opens new tab South Korean labour union said on Friday it remained committed to a planned strike starting next week, even after the company proposed resuming pay talks without conditions, sending shares down as much as 9.3%.
Government-mediated negotiations between the union and the company over pay and bonus schemes collapsed this week, heightening concerns about a strike at the world's biggest memory chipmaker, News.az reports, citing Reuters.
The union on Friday said it was willing to hold new talks after June 7, while maintaining plans for an 18-day strike from May 21 that could disrupt production at the chipmaker.
Samsung executives urged the union to resume talks and apologised to the public and the government for the discord caused by the labour dispute, vowing to approach negotiations with an open attitude and continue efforts to reach agreement.
The company said executives were heading to the company's Pyeongtaek campus to meet the union leader.
Analysts attributed the share decline to growing uncertainty over the potential impact of a strike on production and concerns about Samsung's ability to meet its commitments to customers.
Broader market sentiment was also hit after U.S. President Donald Trump said "I am not going to be much more patient" with Iran.
"There appears to be rising concerns over delivery reliability if the strike takes place and sentiment that rivals could benefit from the uncertainty," said Ryu Young-ho, a senior analyst at NH Investment & Securities.
The prospect of a strike appeared to be increasing as the company did not seem to be presenting fresh proposals to the union, Ryu said.
By Faig Mahmudov
Similar news
