Samsung Electronics, which has achieved its best single-quarter performance in history, is facing an unprecedented serious labor crisis.Samsung's national labor union is dissatisfied with the deadlock in collective wage negotiations, threatening to launch a general strike and demanding more than 40 trillion won in performance bonuses from the company. Faced with the union's demands for huge performance bonuses and threats to launch a general strike, Samsung shareholders announced that they would hold an "anti-strike" rally on April 23 to openly boycott the union's demands.
April 7,Samsung Electronics released its preliminary financial report for the first quarter of 2026. Operating profit for the current period reached 57.2 trillion won, a surge of 755% compared with the same period in 2025, setting the best single-quarter performance since the company was founded. This dazzling report card directly triggered conflicts between labor and management.
After the financial report was released, Samsung’s national labor union raised its demands for performance bonuses.The share of operating profit has been increased from 10% to 15%. It is predicted that Samsung’s semiconductor division’s annual operating profit will be approximately 270 trillion won. Calculated at a ratio of 15%, the corresponding bonus size is as high as 40.5 trillion won.
This amount of funds not only exceeds Samsung’s annual R&D investment of 37.7 trillion won in 2025, but is also much higher than the total dividend of 11.1 trillion won distributed to 4 million shareholders that year.
In response to the tough attitude of trade unions,Samsung shareholders plan to hold an "anti-strike rally" at 10 a.m. on April 23 on the sidewalk at No. 5 Godeok International-daero, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do. The venue is just across the street from the union's general strike rally. Anyone who holds at least 1 share of Samsung Electronics stock can participate in this rally.
The organizer of the rally emphasized: "Faced with the reckless demands of Samsung Electronics employees to demand 40 trillion won in bonuses and shut down the world's top semiconductor factories, 5 million Samsung Electronics shareholders have stepped forward. "And added: "Today, Samsung can stand in the world not only by its management and employees, but also by the consistent support and encouragement of our shareholders. "
"In this 'bonus feast', we, as 5 million shareholders and true owners, have been completely marginalized. We can no longer completely entrust Samsung to management or employees. Now, shareholders will work together to protect Samsung."
Market participants bluntly stated that the average annual salary of employees in Samsung's semiconductor department has reached 150 million won, and the strike is an act of collective selfishness. This appeal not only lacks social persuasion, but may also trigger a sense of relative deprivation among employees in other departments such as DX of the company.Samsung Compliance Committee Chairman Lee Can-hee also publicly stated that Samsung, as a "national enterprise", the union should act more cautiously, and warned to guard against any illegal oppression.
Industry insiders warn that if the strike crisis cannot be properly resolved, it may have a catastrophic impact on the global technology industry. Among the more than 70,000 members of Samsung's national labor union, about 55,000 are affiliated with the DS department of the semiconductor business. Once the strike starts, nearly half of the production capacity of the Pyeongtaek Park may be affected. Not only will it cause a chain supply interruption of power management chips and display driver chips, Samsung's market share in the DRAM field may also be eroded by Chinese companies, and HBM's market opportunity is more likely to fall into the hands of Micron of the United States.
Competition in the global semiconductor market is currently fierce, and supply chain stability is the core for Samsung to maintain the trust of overseas customers. This labor crisis not only affects Samsung's subsequent R&D investment and factory expansion plans, but also severely tests Chairman Lee Jae-yong's crisis management capabilities. His measures to resolve the impasse have become the focus of attention in the global technology circle.