![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/news-p.v1.20260611.35b9d9488d804747ad0ecbc5f3c25c5b_P1.jpg\")
A crosswalk light is seen in front of Samsung Biologics headquarters in Incheon on May 4. (Im Se-jun\/The Korea Herald) <\/p>\nSamsung struggles to break labor deadlock, while Celltrion prepares for first union<\/p>\n
A crosswalk light is seen in front of Samsung Biologics headquarters in Incheon on May 4. (Im Se-jun\/The Korea Herald) <\/p>\n
Korea\u2019s leading biopharmaceutical firms \u2014 Samsung Biologics and Celltrion \u2014 have found themselves in unfamiliar territory facing disputes between their labor unions and management amid upbeat earnings.<\/p>\n
The standoff between Samsung Biologics and its labor union, which began in April, appears likely to endure for some time, as both sides continue struggling to find common ground.<\/p>\n
With the deadlock, the Samsung Biologics labor union is weighing whether it should withdraw itself from Samsung Group\u2019s conglomeratewide labor union after Samsung Electronics\u2019 labor union struck an agreement with the company at the last minute before a full-scale walkout last month.<\/p>\n
For the reason behind the potential withdrawal, the Samsung Biologics labor union said it was not easy to respond together because each firm\u2019s stakes were different under the conglomeratewide union, adding that the direction of the strike will not change by much even if it pulls out of the larger labor union.<\/p>\n
The Samsung Biologics labor union plans to hold a general assembly next week to discuss its future actions and put the withdrawal to a vote among the union members during the last week of this month.<\/p>\n
Industry stakeholders expect that the withdrawal from Samsung\u2019s groupwide union is likely to intensify the biopharmaceutical union\u2019s negotiation power as it will be able to act on its own.<\/p>\n
While the two sides have failed to come up with an agreement, the union already conducted a full-scale strike lasting five days, from May 1 to 5. The first total walkout in the 15-year history of Samsung Biologics cost the firm estimated losses of 150 billion won ($98 million), which is about 25 percent of the firm\u2019s operating profit in the first quarter of this year. The union has been in a work-to-rule mode since then.<\/p>\n
As the nature of the firm\u2019s contract development and manufacturing organization requires nonstop processing of biopharmaceuticals, the company and union are battling it out in court. The latter sought a court injunction to restrict certain activities from being part of the strike.<\/p>\n
The stock price of Samsung Biologics has fallen more than 10 percent since the walkout in early May.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the short term, the labor union\u2019s strike risks exist,\u201d said Shin Ji-hoon, an analyst at KB Securities. \u201cBut if they can strike a deal, it could be resolve uncertainties and act as an upside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Celltrion is bracing for negotiations with Unitrion, Celltrion\u2019s first labor union since its founding in 2002. Unitrion was launched on June 1 under the umbrella of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe demand transparent compensation and respect for our commitment,\u201d said Unitrion in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite the fact that Celltrion is a key pioneer in leading Korea\u2019s biopharmaceutical industry, the only thing that came back to the workers who stayed at the production site and lit up the lab day and night was sacrifice under the name of \u2018pride.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The union underlined four key demands: greater transparency in determining bonuses and salaries based on negotiation, more staff hiring, improved employee benefits and a better workplace culture.<\/p>\n
Celltrion said it respects the right to set up the labor union within legal boundaries and will respond accordingly depending on the union\u2019s future action, vowing to do its best responsibly manage the firm and communicate with employees for stable business operation and sustainable growth.<\/p>\n
The stock price of Celltrion has slipped by about 12 percent since the launch of the union.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe compensation system should be amended in steps with the growth of the Korean biopharmaceutical industry,\u201d said an industry official.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo prevent talent leakage and keep up the growth of the biopharmaceutical industry, establishing an adequate compensation policy will be able to strengthen this sector.\u201d<\/p>\n
The official, however, stressed that as the biopharmaceutical industry is directly linked with public health and has grown on trust from global clients, any extreme standoffs should be avoided, while efforts to achieve a compromise and a win-win situation are needed.<\/p>\n
hwkan@heraldcorp.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Samsung struggles to break labor deadlock, while Celltrion prepares for first union A crosswalk light is seen in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48910,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[2578,127,505,223],"class_list":["post-48909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-samsung","tag-celltrion","tag-samsung","tag-samsung-biologics","tag-samsung-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48909","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48909"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48909\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48910"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48909"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48909"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48909"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}