May 15, 2026
SEOUL – South Korea’s National Labor Relations Commission on Thursday formally asked Samsung Electronics and its largest union to resume postarbitration talks on Saturday, a last-ditch attempt to avert what would be the company’s first full-scale strike, set for May 21.
The request came hours after Samsung sent its own letter proposing direct dialogue with the Samsung Group Federation Union’s Samsung Electronics chapter and the National Samsung Electronics Union. Earlier talks held Monday and Tuesday at the Sejong government complex collapsed over performance-pay reform, the central sticking point of negotiations that began in December.
The union is demanding that 15 percent of operating profit at Samsung’s semiconductor division be set aside as a performance bonus pool and that the existing cap of 50 percent of annual salary be abolished. Samsung wants to keep its current scheme tied to economic value added, offering only a one-time special bonus for the chip unit.
Union Chair Choi Seung-ho, responding to both proposals later Thursday, left the door slightly open.
“There is room for dialogue if the company has a plan to institutionalize the removal of the cap and ensure transparency,” he told reporters.
He otherwise stood by plans for an 18-day walkout from May 21, with at least 50,000 members expected to join.
JPMorgan has estimated potential losses of up to 43 trillion won ($28.8 billion) from a prolonged strike, factoring in labor costs and production disruption, though industry sources told local media that the high level of automation on Samsung’s chip lines would likely blunt the immediate impact.
Under Korean labor law, postarbitration talks can resume only with both parties’ consent. Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon has so far ruled out emergency arbitration, which would legally suspend the strike for 30 days and could result in a binding settlement, urging the two sides to resolve the dispute through dialogue.