Samsung Live: Samsung Union halts historic strike after eleventh-hour wage deal

By Candice Kim Posted : May 20, 2026, 22:48 Updated : May 20, 2026, 22:51
Samsung Union and Samsung chief negotiator Yeo Myung-gu resume wage negotiations at the regional labor office in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, May 20, 2026. Courtesy of The Ministry of Employment and Labor

SEOUL, May 20 (AJP) - Samsung Electronics' largest labor union on Wednesday night suspended its planned full-scale strike, narrowly averting a historic walkout just an hour before it was scheduled to begin.

The dramatic breakthrough came after management and union leadership reached a tentative agreement on the 2026 wage negotiations.

"The general strike scheduled from May 21 to June 7 will be suspended until further notice," the union’s joint strike committee announced in an urgent directive to its members.

The union instructed all members to participate in a mandatory vote to ratify the tentative agreement, which will run from May 22 to May 27.

The late-night resolution caps off a chaotic day of negotiation, following the initial collapse of official government-mediated talks in Sejong earlier in the morning.

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