The Samsung flag hangs in front of a building in the Samsung Town office park in Seocho District, Seoul, in this 2020 file photo. Korea Times file

By Park Jae-hyuk

Samsung Electronics is now more likely to avoid the first-ever strike in its 53-year history, as the company's management told its union on Friday that one of its co-CEOs will meet workers in early March to resume wage negotiations.

"We received an official reply from the management to our request for a dialogue with the company's chief executives," the conglomerate's four unions said in a statement. "We are delighted that the management has changed its stance."

Earlier this week, the unionized workers asked the management to reply by Friday to their request for a dialogue with the company's top executives, such as Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong. The workers made the demand after they won the legal right to go on a strike in the wake of a disagreement with management over their wages for 2021.

Although the management has reiterated that it will continue to hold talks with workers, it has remained reluctant to accept their request for a 10-million-won ($8,400) increase in each employee's annual salary and the payment of performance-based bonuses equivalent to 25 percent of the conglomerate's operating profit.

According to a representative from one of the four unions, management told them that it has yet to decide which co-CEO will meet with the unionized workers. A Samsung Electronics spokesman also said that it remains unclear who will participate in the negotiations.

The union representative added that management had replied verbally on Friday afternoon, promising to send an official letter by 5 p.m. that day.

"The management said over the telephone on Wednesday that it will send a letter by Friday to express its intention to resume the wage talks," he said.

Industry officials expect Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee or President Kyung Kye-hyun to meet with the workers. Kyung will be officially appointed as a co-CEO during the forthcoming general meeting of shareholders on March 16.

The management reportedly suggested resuming talks next month, considering that the Nationwide Samsung Electronics Union, the largest among the four unions, plans to elect new leaders through an online vote between Feb. 28 and March 3.

Han will also depart for Barcelona on Sunday to attend the Mobile World Congress exhibition that will take place from Feb. 28 to March 3, according to industry officials.