What are Samsung union workers demanding and how might a strike play out?

Nearly 48,000 Samsung Electronics workers plan a worst-ever 18-day strike over a dispute about bonus payouts. The union asks Samsung to remove a cap limiting bonuses to 50% of annual salaries and to create a bonus pool equal to 15% of annual operating profit, distributed to workers, with changes binding beyond the current year. Samsung proposes one-off bonuses instead, including logic-chip bonuses of 50% to 100% for this year and memory-chip bonuses intended to exceed bonuses at SK Hynix. Samsung does not want to abolish the 50% cap. Profits have surged for both firms due to a global memory-chip shortage driven by artificial intelligence, and SK Hynix previously removed its bonus cap for 10 years, leading to higher bonuses and increased union membership at Samsung.

"Samsung's union has asked the company to abolish a cap that limits bonuses to 50% of annual salaries and to allocate 15% of annual operating profit to a bonus pool that would be distributed to workers. It also wants Samsung to make the changes binding beyond this year. Samsung made a very different offer. Transcripts of negotiations between the union and Samsung showed that in March, Samsung cited estimates that some staff at smaller rival SK Hynix could receive bonuses equivalent to 607% of their annual salary and proposed that its memory chip workers would gain a bonus exceeding levels that SK Hynix workers receive."

"Samsung also proposed bonuses of 50% to 100% for staff in its logic chip businesses. These bonuses, however, would be a one-off payment for this year. In principle, it does not want to abolish the cap on bonuses at 50% of annual salaries. Samsung and SK Hynix have seen profits balloon to record highs thanks to a global shortage of memory chips amid the boom in artificial intelligence. The two companies account for the majority of global memory production."

"Last year, SK Hynix abolished its cap on bonus pay for 10 years, media reports said. This resulted in bonuses more than three times higher than those offered to Samsung workers, prompting many to jump ship for SK Hynix and sparking a surge in union membership, according to Samsung's union. The strike promises to be far larger and more damaging than the last walkout to affect Samsung in 2024, when about 6,000 workers took part."

"Samsung's union says that nearly 48,000 employees, the majority of them chip workers, have signed up to participate. That represents 38% of Samsung Electronics' domestic work force. A court on Monday partially granted Samsung's request for an injunction, ruling that esse"

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