Samsung Electronics and its unionized workers’ days of intense talks with management to prevent a strike show the impact a walkout would have on the economy. After the talks broke down Wednesday morning, they resumed again with renewed urgency ahead of Thursday’s planned strike. The labor minister stepped in to mediate as the two sides attempted to reach an agreement. Management and labor at the nation’s tech giant have differed primarily over whether to keep a 50 percent cap on bonuses and formalize a percentage of operating profit to be allocated as bonuses, as well as other issues. The government mediation committee of the National Labor Relations Commission offered a proposal that union leader Choi Seung-ho said the union accepted while management withheld its agreement. The labor minister is assisting with mediation to avert the strike, while reluctant to exercise the government’s emergency arbitration powers. The two sides should reach a deal. A strike at Samsung Electronics would detrimentally impact not just the national economy but also the global supply chain. Samsung accounts
