SEOUL, March 18 (AJP) - More than 60,000 employees out of 89,874 union members at Samsung Electronics have voted to go on a general strike in May if their demands for fair and transparent compensation during the chip boom are not met, posing a potential headwind to the chipmaker’s AI-driven upswing.
The joint union coalition announced Wednesday that 93.1 percent of participating members voted in favor of a strike in a 10-day ballot. A total of 66,019 employees from three separate unions took part, with 61,456 voting in favor.
The collective action would mark the second such stoppage in the company’s 57-year history, following a 25-day walkout in July 2024.
The strike threat cast a shadow over Wednesday’s annual shareholder meeting, where Vice Chairman Jun Young-hyun pledged to restore the company’s “technological hyper-gap.”
While many retail investors celebrated the stock’s surge past the 200,000-won mark following Nvidia’s endorsement of Samsung’s HBM4 chips, the union finalized its walkout plans just three hours after the meeting concluded.
Labor leaders are demanding a 7 percent wage increase, the removal of caps on performance-based incentives, and greater transparency in bonus calculations.
“The sheer rate — 93 percent — in support demonstrates how deeply frustrated our members are with the company’s compensation proposal,” a union official told AJP.
“This has given us powerful momentum for our struggle and a firm foundation to push even harder.”
The potential impact of a walkout is significant, particularly for the critical Device Solutions (DS) division, which accounts for the bulk of Samsung’s profits.
The union coalition warned that even an 18-day stoppage could result in losses of at least 5 trillion won ($3.79 billion), with some industry estimates suggesting the total impact could reach 9 trillion won if the strike is prolonged.
The labor unrest is further complicated by escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and rising raw material costs that threaten global supply chains.
In response to these mounting pressures, Samsung’s consumer electronics divisions have already initiated cost-cutting measures, including requiring executives to fly economy class on short-haul trips.
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