Samsung Electronics office building in Gangnam, Seoul. Image: © Yido/Stock.adobe.com
All eyes are on South Korea today as officials bid to avert a strike by more than 45,000 Samsung workers that could impact global semiconductor supply chains.
With a planned walkout set to begin on 21 May, Samsung Electronics and its workers’ unions began what could be a final round of talks today (18 May), following the collapse last week of a first round of South Korean government-mediated negotiations, according to Reuters.
The threatened 18-day strike comes amid an already severe global shortage in memory chips – essential components in AI data centres, smartphones and laptops – that has fuelled massive profits at Samsung and its peers in recent months.
The dispute centres on Samsung’s performance-based bonus system. According to CNBC, the union is seeking bonuses equivalent to 15pc of Samsung’s operating profit, plus other measures, while Samsung’s management has countered with an offer of 10pc of operating profit.
