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Casablanca — Samsung Electronics and its South Korean labor union plan to resume negotiations on Tuesday as both sides try to avoid what could become the biggest strike in the company’s history.
More than 45,000 workers are threatening to walk out for 18 days starting Thursday. The strike risk comes at a sensitive time for the world’s largest memory chipmaker, as memory chips remain in short supply and are used in AI data centers, smartphones, and laptops.
Monday’s talks followed the collapse last week of an earlier round of government-mediated negotiations over pay and bonuses. Samsung accounts for nearly a quarter of South Korea’s exports, making the dispute a major concern for the government as well as the company.
A union representative said talks would continue on Tuesday and said the union had been “engaging in negotiations in good faith.” Park Su-keun, chairman of the National Labor Relations Commission, also said negotiations would resume on Tuesday after noting that the two sides remained far apart on Monday.
The union is demanding that Samsung abolish a bonus cap equal to 50% of annual salaries. It also wants the company to allocate 15% of annual operating profit to a bonus pool shared by workers and to formalize the arrangement in contracts.
Samsung has proposed assigning 9% to 10% of its annual operating profit to a bonus if profit exceeds 200 trillion won this year, while keeping the 50% bonus pay cap, according to the union.
Court ruling adds pressure
A South Korean court partially granted Samsung’s request for an injunction aimed at preventing illegal labor actions during any strike.
The ruling means thousands of workers may be required to report to work if a strike takes place, in order to prevent damage to some production materials and facilities. About 47,000 workers have said they would join the walkout.
A court spokesperson said the two main unions could each face fines of 100 million won, or about $72,000, per day if they fail to comply. Union leaders could be fined 10 million won per day.
Samsung shares rose after the court decision.
Government officials have warned about the possible economic impact of a strike. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said in a social media post on Monday that corporate management rights should be respected as much as labor rights in the country’s free-market economy.
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok has said the government would consider all available options to prevent a strike, including emergency arbitration, a rarely used process that would suspend industrial action for 30 days while the National Labor Relations Commission mediates.
The union said on Sunday it would not give in to pressure over arbitration and would not accept a pay deal if the company offered a less favorable proposal.
After negotiations collapsed last week, executives from Samsung’s chip division urged the union not to strike, citing concerns raised by semiconductor customers, including Nvidia, according to media reports.
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