According to Bloomberg, if an agreement is not reached by May 21, employees are threatened with an 18-day work stoppage. For South Korea, this is no longer just a labor dispute: authorities are warning of risks to the country’s entire economy.
Prime Minister Kim Min-seok today urged the parties to urgently reach an agreement and called the upcoming talks virtually the last chance to avoid a shutdown. He said the downtime at Samsung’s plants could cost the country nearly $668 million a day.
The government has signaled for the first time that it is prepared to use emergency measures if the strike does break out.
The conflict has erupted amid a surge in Samsung’s profits thanks to the global AI infrastructure boom. The union is demanding that 15% of the company’s operating profits be sent to employees in the form of bonuses and that this be enshrined in labor contracts. Management is offering 10% and one-off payments, calling the workers’ demands too hard on the business in the long term.
Amid the mounting pressure, company Chairman J.Y. Lee made a rare public address. He apologized for internal conflicts and said management and employees are “one corporate family.”
Previous government-mediated talks ended in failure. The parties now have a few days to prevent one of the world’s key chip makers from shutting down.
