{"id":804673,"date":"2026-05-18T08:32:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T08:32:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/804673\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T08:32:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T08:32:15","slug":"samsung-strike-involving-47000-workers-looms-as-south-koreas-president-urges-labor-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/804673\/","title":{"rendered":"Samsung strike involving 47,000 workers looms as South Korea\u2019s president urges labor deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Members of the Samsung Electronics labour union hold signs reading &#8220;Change it to be transparent!&#8221; as they stage a mass rally demanding the removal of a cap on performance bonuses, outside the company&#8217;s foundry and semiconductor factory in Pyeongtaek on April 23, 2026. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n<p>Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday called for both labor and management rights to be respected as an 18-day strike at Samsung Electronics looms. <\/p>\n<p>Lee, posting on X in Korean, said &#8220;labor must be respected as much as business, and corporate management rights must be respected as much as labor rights.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Excess is not beneficial; extremes lead to reversal,&#8221; he added, according to a CNBC translation of his statement.<\/p>\n<p>Lee&#8217;s remarks are the latest in a chorus of statements from government officials urging Samsung Electronics and its workers&#8217; union to reach an agreement before a planned strike set to begin on May 21.<\/p>\n<p>A final round of talks between the union and Samsung&#8217;s management was scheduled for Monday. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/05\/13\/samsung-electronics-pares-66-billion-rout-as-seoul-moves-to-calm-strike-fears-involving-41000-workers.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The union<\/a>&#8216;s demands center on Samsung&#8217;s performance-based bonus system. It is seeking performance bonuses equivalent to 15% of Samsung&#8217;s operating profit, the removal of bonus payout caps, and a formalized bonus structure, among other measures.<\/p>\n<p>Samsung&#8217;s management has offered to allocate 10% of operating profit to bonuses and provide a one-time special compensation package, according to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.yna.co.kr\/view\/AEN20260513003600320?section=economy-finance\/economy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">South Korean news agency Yonhap.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Shares of Samsung Electronics jumped as much as 6.65% on Monday before paring gains to around 3%.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"headline0\"\/>Economic fallout<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smarttoday.co.kr\/ko-kr\/articles\/107578\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">reportedly <\/a>said that the government would explore all possible response measures, including &#8220;emergency adjustments,&#8221; if the strike risks causing &#8220;significant damage.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Under South Korean law,\u00a0the labor minister\u00a0can invoke\u00a0an &#8220;emergency adjustment&#8221; to suspend industrial action for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/elaw.klri.re.kr\/eng_service\/jomunPrint.do?hseq=22056&amp;cseq=148651\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">30 days<\/a> if a dispute is deemed likely to harm the economy or daily life.<\/p>\n<p>Kim described Monday&#8217;s negotiations as the final opportunity to avert the strike, adding that &#8220;the economic losses we will face will be beyond imagination.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The prime minister estimated that the direct losses from the strike could reach 1 trillion won ($664.7 million). The economic loss could rise to as much as 100 trillion won if chip production disruptions force Samsung to scrap semiconductor wafers already in production.<\/p>\n<p>However, Samsung&#8217;s workers&#8217; union disputed the impact of the strikes, saying in <a href=\"https:\/\/samsunglabor.co.kr\/bbs\/board.php?bo_table=statement&amp;wr_id=6\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">a statement<\/a> that previous production pauses had occurred for equipment inspection, maintenance and process adjustments. <\/p>\n<p>It also stated that the government did not adequately review the union&#8217;s rebuttal materials and focused solely on management claims. <\/p>\n<p>Samsung Electronics accounts for 22.8% of South Korea&#8217;s exports and 26% of its total market capitalization, he highlighted. Seoul&#8217;s presidential office also said Samsung Electronics <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=0ovAfDq2Csw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">revenue accounts for 12.5%<\/a> of South Korea&#8217;s GDP. <\/p>\n<p>Analysts have raised concerns about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/05\/12\/tsmc-samsung-sk-hynixs-south-korea-taiwan-stocks-ai-chipmakers-concentration-risk.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">concentration risks<\/a> in South Korea&#8217;s stock market, with an overreliance on a small group of companies raising the risk of volatility and vulnerability to geopolitical shocks, including a slowdown in data-center spending.<\/p>\n<p>Stock Chart IconStock chart icon<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static-redesign.cnbcfm.com\/dist\/a54b41835a8b60db28c2.svg\" class=\"Collapsible-dismissButton\" alt=\"hide content\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Kim&#8217;s statements also <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/yuncheol_koo\/status\/2054346374116966852\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">followed an X post<\/a> by Finance Minister <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2026\/05\/13\/samsung-electronics-pares-66-billion-rout-as-seoul-moves-to-calm-strike-fears-involving-41000-workers.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Koo Yun Cheol last week<\/a>, warning that &#8220;strikes must never happen under any circumstances.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Samsung Electronics is an important company that the world is watching,&#8221; Koo wrote. &#8220;Considering the current management situation and its impact on the national economy, both labor and management sides must continue to strive to achieve principled negotiations.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Samsung chairman Lee Jae-yong on Saturday issued a rare public apology to customers worldwide for causing &#8220;worry and anxiety,&#8221; according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.donga.com\/en\/article\/all\/20260518\/6230920\/1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">South Korean media reports.<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>More than 47,000 workers could participate in the strike, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.xn--5h5bv6v.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the union said.<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>It also said a rally on April 23, which drew 40,000 workers, led to a 58% drop in foundry production and an 18% decline in Samsung&#8217;s memory production that day. The union estimated an 18-day strike could cost Samsung about 30 trillion won, or about $20 billion.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 CNBC&#8217;s Miko Jang contributed to this report. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">Choose CNBC as your preferred source on Google and never miss a moment from the most trusted name in business news.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Members of the Samsung Electronics labour union hold signs reading &#8220;Change it to be transparent!&#8221; as they stage&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":804674,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[8000,7998,11732,81,3350,51,50,2578,158,52],"class_list":{"0":"post-804673","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-asia-economy","9":"tag-breaking-news-asia","10":"tag-breaking-news-technology","11":"tag-business-news","12":"tag-foreign-policy","13":"tag-headlines","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-personnel","16":"tag-technology","17":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116594656162132024","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=804673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/804673\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/804674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=804673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=804673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=804673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}