The labor conflict at Samsung Electronics continues to intensify, with the union clearly threatening to launch an 18-day large-scale strike from May 21 to June 7. The core demand is to receive 15% of the company's annual operating profit as employee bonuses, totaling approximately US$30 billion.This strike is not a temporary move, but a concentrated outbreak of long-term dissatisfaction with salary and profit distribution among Samsung employees in the context of the explosive growth of the company's performance. Once implemented, it will become the largest and longest-lasting strike in Samsung's history.
The direct trigger of this labor conflict was Samsung’s “exploding” performance in the first quarter of 2026.
The company expects sales in the first quarter to reach 133 trillion won and operating profit to reach 57.2 trillion won, a year-on-year surge of about 700% and a month-on-month increase of more than 180%. The profit scale far exceeds market expectations, and the memory chip business has become the main source of profit.
Many institutions predict that Samsung's full-year operating profit in 2026 is expected to exceed 327 trillion won, and may further climb to 488 trillion won in 2027, and is expected to surpass Nvidia to become the world's most profitable company.
Employees believe that when the company is making a lot of money, its salary and benefits have not been improved simultaneously, and the distribution mechanism is obviously unfair.
In fact, labor conflicts at Samsung have been accumulating for many years. In 2025, employees broke a 50-year record and went on strike, but it only lasted three days and the problem was not fundamentally resolved.
This time the union has escalated the action to 18 days, and the previous strike vote has been supported by more than 90% of employees. The determination to strike is very firm.
In addition to demanding 15% profit sharing, the union also hopes to increase basic wages, optimize bonus accounting rules, and change the company's current situation of being too stingy with employees during peak profit periods.
This matter not only affects Samsung itself, but also attracts close attention from its peers. Many friendly companies even have a wait-and-see attitude. Once Samsung ceases production, memory prices are expected to continue to rise, and friendly companies can also take the opportunity to seize more market orders.