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Agence France-Presse

Samsung Electronics workers’ union said late on Wednesday that a planned strike had been put on hold until further notice after negotiations with management resumed with the participation of South Korea’s labour minister.
The company’s management and workers’ union had resumed talks earlier in the day in a last-ditch attempt to avert a strike.
The labour union at the world’s top memory chipmaker had said it would begin a strike on Thursday after talks over bonuses broke down, raising concerns about potential disruption to semiconductor production.
But late on Wednesday, it said the planned strike “will be put off until further notice”, adding that it would put a tentative wage deal to a vote.


All members would participate in a vote on this year’s tentative wage agreement, which would take place between May 23 and May 28, the union said.
Labour Minister Kim Young-hoon said the company’s management and union reached a tentative agreement through voluntary negotiations, and thanked both parties for “holding fast to the thread of dialogue until the very end”.
Samsung’s management apologised for the “concern caused” by the dispute, vowing to “build a more mature and constructive labour-management relationship so that such a situation does not arise again”.
The walkout was expected to dwarf a 2024 strike that drew about 6,000 workers, as anger flares among staff over how the company distributes its massive profits from an AI-fuelled boom.
Riding AI wave
Samsung reported a roughly 750 per cent jump in first-quarter operating profit year-on-year, while its market capitalisation topped US$1 trillion for the first time in May.
The union had called for the scrapping of a bonus cap set at 50 per cent of annual salaries and for 15 per cent of operating profit to be allocated to bonuses.
According to the union’s lawyer, around 50,500 workers were set to walk off production lines for 18 days from Thursday following the breakdown of negotiations with management.
In response, Samsung’s management said the talks failed because “acceding to the labour union’s excessive demands would risk undermining the fundamental principles of the company’s management”.
The stand-off has raised concerns in South Korea, where semiconductors account for about 35 per cent of exports and are a key pillar of the economy.
The presidential office had expressed “deep regret” over the collapse of talks earlier, urging both sides to continue negotiations given the strike’s potential economic impact.

President Lee Jae Myung also told a cabinet meeting that collective labour action should remain within “certain limits”.
Experts say even a partial halt in Samsung’s operations could prove damaging – though the union argues that production stoppages have already occurred in the past for reasons related to maintenance and equipment inspections.
The government could invoke emergency mediation powers to halt industrial action and trigger mediation if it is deemed a threat to the national economy.
But Tom Hsu, an analyst at Taipei-based research firm TrendForce, said the potential impact of the strike, if it went ahead, might be limited.
“Due to the high level of automation in front-end facilities, TrendForce expects Samsung’s DRAM and NAND Flash production to remain at full capacity,” he said.
“Any potential impact from the strike is likely to be confined to non-memory business segments.”

A Suwon court this week largely granted Samsung an injunction requiring staffing and operations to be maintained at normal levels during any walkout, to prevent potential damage to the company’s safety-related and other facilities.
Kim Sung-hee, director of Workers’ Institute for the Industrial and Labour Policy, said that while the strike could cause losses, “they are unlikely to be irreversible”.
The strike, if it happens, does not mean it would “automatically trigger an economic crisis”.
Samsung Electronics shares inched up 0.18 per cent by the close in Seoul on Wednesday.
Samsung is a major producer of chips used in everything from AI to consumer electronics.
The company said this year it had begun mass production of next-generation high-bandwidth memory chips, HBM4, seen as a key component for scaling up the vast data centres needed for AI development.
The dispute has unfolded against the backdrop of an AI boom that is benefiting South Korean tech groups, boosting national growth and the stock market.
Both Samsung and its domestic rival SK Hynix posted record profits in the first quarter, driven by global demand for AI chips.
Long staunchly anti-union, late founder Lee Byung-chul once vowed never to allow unions “until I have dirt over my eyes”.
Samsung’s first labour union was formed in the late 2010s.


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South Korea

Samsung workers’ union puts off strike after tentative wage deal reached

Samsung Electronics’ trade union members chant slogans during a protest against the company’s compensation levels in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, last month. Photo: Reuters

Samsung workers wave labour union flags during a rally at the company’s main semiconductor production base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province, on April 23. Photo: Korea Times

A Samsung flag flutters outside the company’s Seocho building in Seoul on April 30, 2025. Photo: AFP

South Korea stifling Samsung workers’ US$400,000 bonus strike risks wider crisis

Members of Samsung Electronics’ largest labour union chant slogans during a protest against the company’s compensation levels in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, last month. Photo: Reuters

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok at a press conference on Sunday about the labour dispute. He has said the government could consider all response measures. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

Samsung Electronics workers chant slogans during a protest in front of the company’s semiconductor plant in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on April 23. Photo: Reuters

Choi Seung-ho, head of Samsung Electronics’ largest labour union, walks past calligraphy reading “Labour-Management Co-prosperity” as he attends government-led mediation talks in Sejong on Monday. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

Samsung Electronics workers wave union flags during their mass rally in Pyeongtaek on April 23. Photo: Korea Times

Samsung union’s strike threat fuels fears of South Korea’s economic slowdown

Union members from Samsung Electronics stage a protest in front of the company’s plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province last month. Photo: The Korea Times

Choi Seung-ho, head of Samsung Electronics’ union, speaks after a mediation session in Sejong, South Korea, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

A screen showing South Korea’s benchmark stock index breaking 7,000 points at the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul on May 6. Samsung Electronics’ market capitalisation smashed past US$1 trillion for the first time on the same day. Photo: AFP

Samsung Electronics’ plant in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi province. The company has recorded a surge in profits due to robust demand for AI-related chips. Photo: The Korea Times

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East Asia

The stand-off has raised concerns in South Korea, where semiconductors account for about 35 per cent of exports


The stand-off has raised concerns in South Korea, where semiconductors account for about 35 per cent of exports.


Samsung Electronics

Samsung workers’ union puts off strike after tentative wage deal reached

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The stand-off has raised concerns in South Korea, where semiconductors account for about 35 per cent of exports

The stand-off has raised concerns in South Korea, where semiconductors account for about 35 per cent of exports