According to multiple reports, thousands of Samsung Electronics workers gathered at its chip complex in South Korea on Thursday to demand higher bonuses and threaten a strike. Union representatives put attendance at around 40,000 members, but police did not state an official count of protesters. The protest comes as Samsung benefits from soaring demand for memory chips used in artificial intelligence applications.
Samsung forecast first-quarter operating profit of 57.2 trillion won (€33 billion), according to the company. The union, which represents about 74,000 workers, says Samsung has failed to offer adequate compensation despite strong performance. The union rejected management's proposal for bonuses of restricted stock and called for removing caps on bonuses. According to Euronews, protesters described the need to make compensation transparent and remove maximum limits on bonuses.
Make compensation transparent and remove maximum limits on bonuses!
If talks break down, the union has threatened an 18-day strike beginning May 21. The union estimates a strike would cost Samsung over 1 trillion won (€578 million) per day. It remains unclear whether Samsung management will agree to the union's demands or how a potential strike would affect production and profits.
The protest occurred on the same day SK Hynix reported its best-ever quarterly results, crediting the record to soaring global investment in data centres and AI infrastructure, according to SK Hynix. Samsung and SK Hynix together produce about two-thirds of global memory chips, highlighting the significance of labour unrest at the two companies.
The war in the Middle East has disrupted supplies of key materials such as helium and pushed up energy costs, according to multiple reports. However, SK Hynix's CFO Woo Hyun Kim said the company does not expect a meaningful impact on production from the Middle East conflict. The exact impact on Samsung's supply chain remains unclear.