Samsung Electronics' South Korean Union to Strike on Thursday

SEOUL, May 20 (Yonhap) — Samsung Electronics’ South Korean labor union has announced it will hold a strike this Thursday, two days after a local court partially granted the tech giant’s request for an injunction to block the work stoppage. On May 18, a South Korean court gave partial approval to Samsung’s bid to halt the union’s planned strike. If the Samsung union defies the court order and proceeds with the strike, it will face a daily fine of approximately 100 million South Korean won. Earlier, the Samsung union set out plans for an 18-day general strike kicking off on May 21. At the heart of their demands is securing a bigger share of the company’s profits amid projections that Samsung’s AI semiconductor business will hit record-high earnings in 2026. The union is calling for an end to the performance bonus cap, a rule that 15% of the company’s operating profit be allocated to a transparent performance bonus pool, and a 7% increase in base wages to close the pay gap with rival SK hynix. Samsung management, however, has only offered either a one-time special bonus or a limited 10% profit-sharing scheme, refusing to make permanent changes to the bonus system. The company cited concerns that a permanent overhaul would raise long-term operational burdens, undermine its competitiveness, and hurt shareholder interests as key reasons for rejecting the union’s core requests.