Samsung Electronics and union representatives resumed government-mediated talks on May 11, seeking an agreement before an 18-day strike planned for May 21 through June 7. The dispute centers on performance-bonus caps and how employee compensation should be linked to profits.
South Korea’s Ministry of Employment and Labor confirmed that both sides had agreed to renewed mediation through the National Labor Relations Commission. Earlier mediation in February and March had failed to produce a settlement.
Bonus formula remains disputed
The union is reported to be seeking the permanent removal of the bonus cap and an allocation of 15% of operating profit to a bonus pool. Whether that percentage would be calculated from Samsung’s Device Solutions semiconductor division’s earnings or Samsung Electronics’ company-wide profit remains unresolved.
Samsung says its proposed special awards would give memory-business employees payout rates matching or exceeding competitors’ rates if revenue and operating profit reach domestic industry-leading levels. Management has also proposed a wage increase and benefits, while resisting permanent removal of the bonus cap on the grounds that the arrangement would be difficult to sustain.
SK hynix said its wage agreement removes the performance-bonus cap and provides for 10% of annual operating profit to be distributed as employee bonuses. That framework has become a comparison point for Samsung semiconductor workers. Individual payouts depend on earnings; projections of future bonuses are not guaranteed payments.
Potential effects on memory supply
Samsung produces DRAM, NAND flash and high-bandwidth memory, or HBM, which is used alongside AI accelerators. The planned walkout raises questions about production continuity as the company expands its AI-memory business.
In its first-quarter 2026 results, Samsung reported operating profit of 53.7 trillion won for Device Solutions, compared with 57.2 trillion won for the company overall. Samsung attributed its memory-business results partly to AI-related demand and higher memory prices, while noting limited supply availability. It also said it had begun sales of HBM4 and SOCAMM2 memory for Nvidia’s Vera Rubin platform.
The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea warned on May 11 that significant production disruptions at Samsung could worsen supply bottlenecks, procurement uncertainty and memory-price volatility. These are potential consequences identified by the chamber; the planned strike’s effects on deliveries and prices have not been established.
A reported estimate puts possible damage from the walkout at about 30 trillion won, without identifying an estimator, methodology or definition of damage. The figure remains unverified.
Participation and production impact
Samsung’s union said foundry-chip output fell 58% and memory-chip output fell 18% during the overnight shift from April 23 to April 24, after workers attended a pay protest and some missed their shifts. The figures concern that single overnight shift and have not been independently verified. They do not establish the production impact of an extended walkout.
The Samsung Electronics branch of the supra-enterprise union was reported to have about 74,000 members in early May. That membership figure does not establish how many employees would participate in the planned strike. Samsung previously faced strike action in 2024.
Withdrawal requests among consumer-business employees
The compensation dispute spans a company whose businesses include smartphones, televisions and home appliances alongside semiconductors. Its Device eXperience division covers consumer products, while Device Solutions encompasses its semiconductor operations.
Samsung Electronics and others were reported as saying that more than 1,000 withdrawal-request posts a day were appearing on the union’s message board in early May, mainly from Device eXperience employees. The post count concerns requests to leave the union and does not establish how many withdrawals were completed.
