Samsung Electronics' Largest Union to Proceed with 18-Day Strike Despite Management Proposal

By Kim Han-joo SEOUL, May 15 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co.'s largest labor union said Friday it will proceed with a major strike planned for next week despite the company's proposal to resume talks without preconditions. An official proposal was sent to the union earlier in the day, in what is seen as the management's latest effort to avert a planned 18-day strike beginning next Thursday that could disrupt production at the world's largest memory chipmaker. The union reaffirmed its position that it has no intention of engaging in further dialogue unless its key demands on performance-based bonuses are addressed before another round of government-mediated talks proposed for Saturday. "We are willing to hold discussions after June 7," Choi Seung-ho, head of Samsung Electronics' largest labor union, said, referring to the day after the planned strike is scheduled to end. "We intend to exercise the rights guaranteed under the Constitution." Two days of government-led mediation talks ended without an agreement Wednesday, as labor and management remained sharply divided over performance-based bonuses tied to earnings from the company's artificial intelligence (AI)-related semiconductor business amid the ongoing memory supercycle. According to the latest official document sent to the union, management proposed maintaining the current excess profit incentive system while allowing the bonus pool to be calculated based on either 10 percent of operating profit or economic value added, known as EVA. The company also proposed introducing a special compensation system, saying it would help create a more flexible incentive structure. In contrast, the union has demanded fixed performance bonuses equivalent to 15 percent of the operating profit generated by the company's semiconductor division, along with the removal of the payout cap. Choi previously said around 41,000 unionized workers had expressed their intention to participate in the planned general strike, adding that the number could rise to more than 50,000. The government has voiced concerns that a strike at Samsung Electronics should be avoided at all costs, warning that it could pose significant risks to economic growth. Observers say that if a full-scale strike takes place, losses to the South Korean economy, which heavily depends on exports, could reach up to 100 trillion won (US$66.7 billion). The tech giant posted a record 57 trillion won in operating profit for the first quarter, while market watchers project operating profit for the full year could reach around 300 trillion won. South Korea's exports reached a record $219.9 billion in the first quarter of 2026, driven by strong global demand for AI data centers. Semiconductor exports were a major contributor, surging 139 percent from a year earlier to $78.5 billion as investment in AI-related servers accelerated.