Members of the Samsung Electronics labour union maintain indicators studying “Change it to be clear!” as they stage a mass rally demanding the elimination of a cap on efficiency bonuses, exterior the corporate’s foundry and semiconductor manufacturing facility in Pyeongtaek on April 23, 2026. (Photograph by Jung Yeon-je / AFP through Getty Photographs)
Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Photographs
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday known as for each labor and administration rights to be revered as an 18-day strike at Samsung Electronics looms.
Lee, posting on X in Korean, mentioned “labor should be revered as a lot as enterprise, and company administration rights should be revered as a lot as labor rights.”
“Extra just isn’t useful; extremes result in reversal,” he added, based on a CNBC translation of his assertion.
Lee’s remarks are the newest in a refrain of statements from authorities officers urging Samsung Electronics and its employees’ union to succeed in an settlement earlier than a deliberate strike set to start on Could 21.
A last spherical of talks between the union and Samsung’s administration was scheduled for Monday.
The union’s calls for heart on Samsung’s performance-based bonus system. It’s looking for efficiency bonuses equal to fifteen% of Samsung’s working revenue, the elimination of bonus payout caps, and a formalized bonus construction, amongst different measures.
Samsung’s administration has provided to allocate 10% of working revenue to bonuses and supply a one-time particular compensation bundle, based on South Korean information company Yonhap.
Shares of Samsung Electronics jumped as a lot as 6.65% on Monday earlier than paring beneficial properties to round 3%.
Financial fallout
On Sunday, South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok reportedly mentioned that the federal government would discover all doable response measures, together with “emergency changes,” if the strike dangers inflicting “vital injury.”
Below South Korean legislation, the labor minister can invoke an “emergency adjustment” to droop industrial motion for 30 days if a dispute is deemed more likely to hurt the economic system or day by day life.
Kim described Monday’s negotiations as the ultimate alternative to avert the strike, including that “the financial losses we are going to face might be past creativeness.”
The prime minister estimated that the direct losses from the strike may attain 1 trillion received ($664.7 million). The financial loss may rise to as a lot as 100 trillion received if chip manufacturing disruptions power Samsung to scrap semiconductor wafers already in manufacturing.
Nevertheless, Samsung’s employees’ union disputed the impression of the strikes, saying in a press release that earlier manufacturing pauses had occurred for gear inspection, upkeep and course of changes.
It additionally said that the federal government didn’t adequately overview the union’s rebuttal supplies and targeted solely on administration claims.
Samsung Electronics accounts for 22.8% of South Korea’s exports and 26% of its complete market capitalization, he highlighted. Seoul’s presidential workplace additionally mentioned Samsung Electronics income accounts for 12.5% of South Korea’s GDP.
Analysts have raised issues about focus dangers in South Korea’s inventory market, with an overreliance on a small group of firms elevating the chance of volatility and vulnerability to geopolitical shocks, together with a slowdown in data-center spending.
Kim’s statements additionally adopted an X publish by Finance Minister Koo Yun Cheol final week, warning that “strikes mustn’t ever occur underneath any circumstances.”
“Samsung Electronics is a crucial firm that the world is watching,” Koo wrote. “Contemplating the present administration scenario and its impression on the nationwide economic system, each labor and administration sides should proceed to try to attain principled negotiations.”
Samsung chairman Lee Jae-yong on Saturday issued a uncommon public apology to clients worldwide for inflicting “fear and anxiousness,” based on South Korean media reviews.
Greater than 47,000 employees may take part within the strike, the union mentioned.
It additionally mentioned a rally on April 23, which drew 40,000 employees, led to a 58% drop in foundry manufacturing and an 18% decline in Samsung’s reminiscence manufacturing that day. The union estimated an 18-day strike may value Samsung about 30 trillion received, or about $20 billion.
— CNBC’s Miko Jang contributed to this report.
