Samsung Electronics' South Korean Union to Strike on Thursday

BlockBeats News, May 20th, according to Yonhap News Agency: Samsung Electronics' South Korean union announced a strike to be held on Thursday.

On the 18th, a South Korean court partially approved Samsung Electronics' injunction request against the union's planned strike. If the Samsung union fails to comply with the court order and continues the strike, it will be fined approximately 100 million Korean won per day.

Prior to this, Samsung Electronics' union decided to launch an 18-day general strike starting on May 21st. The core reason is to achieve more profit-sharing in 2026 when the company's AI semiconductor business is expected to achieve record-high profits. The union is demanding the removal of the performance bonus cap, allocating 15% of the company's operating profit as a source of performance bonuses and institutionalizing it transparently. Additionally, they are requesting a 7% increase in base wages to narrow the wage gap with their competitor SK hynix. The Samsung management, however, is only willing to offer a one-time special bonus or a limited 10% profit scheme, refusing to permanently change the system due to concerns about increasing long-term operational burdens, impacting competitiveness, and shareholder interests.