Samsung and its union meet Monday in a last attempt to prevent an 18-day chip factory strike

"Samsung Electronics and its largest labour union will resume negotiations on Monday in what South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-Seok has described as " virtually the last chance " to prevent an 18-day strike at the world's biggest memory chipmaker. If the talks fail, the union's 41,000 confirmed participants, a number expected to exceed 50,000, will walk out on 21 May."

"The prime minister addressed the nation on Sunday, warning that " if the strike becomes a reality, the economic damage that we have to face would be unimaginable. " Kim estimated the cost at up to 1 trillion won ($668 million) for every day Samsung's chip factories are shut. He signalled for the first time that the government could resort to emergency powers to prevent the strike if it threatened the national economy."

"The head of South Korea's National Labor Relations Commission will participate in Monday's talks, elevating the negotiations from a corporate dispute to a matter of direct government intervention. Previous government-mediated negotiations broke down on 12 May after 17 hours of marathon talks that union representative Choi Seung-ho described as 16 hours of waiting and one hour of negotiation."

"The dispute centres on how Samsung distributes the profits from the AI boom to its workforce. The union wants Samsung to scrap an existing cap on bonuses, allocate 15% of operating profit to worker bonuses, and formalise those terms in employment contracts. Samsung has proposed allocating 10% of operating profit to bonuses, along with a one-time special compensation package that it says exceeds industry standards."

Samsung Electronics faces a planned 18-day chip strike beginning May 21 if negotiations fail. South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-Seok warned that a strike would cause economic damage up to 1 trillion won, or about $668 million, per day that chip factories are shut. The government signalled it could use emergency powers to prevent the strike if it threatens the national economy. Samsung and its largest labor union will resume talks on Monday, with the head of the National Labor Relations Commission participating. The dispute centers on profit distribution from the AI boom, including bonus caps, allocating 15% of operating profit to bonuses, and formalizing terms in employment contracts. Samsung proposes 10% of operating profit plus a one-time special compensation package.

Read at TNW | Deep-Tech