Samsung union – Samsung’s largest labor union in South Korea has suspended a planned 18-day walkout after reaching a tentative agreement over bonuses. Nearly 48,000 workers were set to strike starting May 21, with negotiations centered on how much of annual operating profit w
The strike clock had already started counting down in South Korea—then it stopped.
Samsung’s largest labor union suspended the walkout that was scheduled to begin on May 21 after reaching a tentative deal with the company. Nearly 48,000 workers were expected to walk out, and the strike was planned to last for 18 days. Because most of those workers are in Samsung’s memory division—its biggest moneymaker—the threatened disruption carried consequences not just for the company’s output. but for the wider semiconductor economy.
Union leader Choi Seung-ho announced that the unionized workers will vote on the tentative agreement from May 22 to May 27. A final agreement will only be reached after the voting is completed.
In a statement, Samsung said: “With a humble attitude, we will build a more mature and constructive labour-management relationship to ensure that such an incident never happens again.”
The dispute that drove the planned walkout began when negotiations broke down over bonuses. Workers wanted Samsung to remove the cap on their bonuses—an amount they said is equivalent to 50 percent of their annual salaries—pointing to rival SK Hynix as the benchmark. They also pushed for Samsung to allocate 15 percent of its annual operating profit into the bonus pool.
The union’s case was backed by comparisons to SK Hynix. It argued that SK Hynix gave its employees bonuses that were three times higher than what Samsung’s workers received last year, and said some Samsung personnel left for SK Hynix as a result.
The tentative deal shifts that battle. Samsung has agreed to abolish the cap and to set aside 10.5 percent of its annual operating profits for employees. Yonhap News reported that 40 percent of the bonus pool will go to memory chip division workers. while the rest of Samsung’s units will split 60 percent among themselves.
The numbers land between the competing positions. The agreed-upon percentage is lower than the union’s request of 15 percent, but it is higher than the 10 percent of profit SK Hynix is paying out.
Bonuses under the arrangement are also tied to performance. Workers’ bonuses are contingent on the memory division making at least KRW 200 trillion (US$133 billion) in profit from 2026 to 2028. and KRW 100 trillion (US$66 billion) from 2029 to 2035. Samsung will pay part of those bonuses in company stock for at least 10 years.
Once the strike announcement landed, the government moved quickly. Talks restarted just hours after the walkout plan was made public, with South Korean Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon serving as mediator.
Samsung’s weight in the national economy also helped keep pressure on both sides. The company accounts for 12.5 percent of South Korea’s GDP. Samsung is the world’s largest memory chip maker and posted KRW 53.7 trillion (US$35.63 billion) in operating profit for the first quarter of 2026.
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok had previously warned that direct losses from the planned 18-day strike could reach KRW 1 trillion (US$669 million). The broader economic impact was estimated to be far larger—up to KRW 100 trillion (US$66 billion)—if Samsung scrapped semiconductors already in production while the protest was ongoing.
With the walkout suspended, the immediate risk has eased. But the timeline now runs through May 22 to May 27, when union members will vote on whether the tentative deal becomes final.
Samsung union South Korea strike bonuses memory chip division SK Hynix labor minister Kim Young-hoon Choi Seung-ho Samsung operating profit bonus cap abolition
So they just stopped the strike?? Sounds like management always wins in the end.
I saw something about bonuses and an 18-day walkout and I’m like… 48,000 people? For some reason I thought that was in the US lol. Hopefully those workers actually get the money and not some “tentative” promise.
Wait so the strike clock already started counting down and then it stopped, like a movie scene? I don’t get how that works legally. Also if they’re voting May 22-27 then is the strike delayed or canceled, because the headline makes it sound totally over.
This is why I don’t trust any “labor-management relationship” statements. They said bonuses were capped like 50% of annual salaries?? That doesn’t even sound right, unless math is different over there. And if SK Hynix is the benchmark then of course Samsung had to cave, because semiconductors run the world or whatever.