Samsung Electronics' largest union, the Samsung Federation of Employees' Unions (SFEU), has confirmed it will begin an 18-day full-scale strike on May 21 and will not resume negotiations until June 7. Talks broke down on May 13, and despite management's offer of unconditional dialogue, the union remains defiant.
18 Days, 90,000 Workers, No Door for Talks
SFEU represents more than 90,000 members, accounting for over 70% of Samsung's South Korean workforce — the largest strike in the company's history. The core demands are removing the cap on annual bonuses and implementing a 15% profit-sharing scheme. The union's statement read: "Want to negotiate? Come back after June 7." Samsung has already started pre-emptive production cuts at its fabs to prevent quality loss during a full shutdown.
Trial Strike Data: DRAM Output Down 18%, Foundry Down 58%
Data from a previous one-day trial strike revealed alarming figures: DRAM production dropped 18% and foundry output fell 58% on the shift. Now an 18-day stoppage could have far larger consequences. Industry estimates suggest global DRAM supply may shrink by 3-4%, NAND Flash supply by 2-3%, and daily losses for Samsung could reach hundreds of millions of dollars. For cloud firms racing to expand AI infrastructure, an 18-day halt in HBM production plus ramp-up time could trigger a new wave of panic buying.
Meanwhile, SK Hynix's market cap surged past 1,000 trillion won on AI memory demand, and U.S. chip export curbs have further squeezed Samsung and TSMC in China.