Samsung’s labor dispute moved into public view outside its semiconductor complex in Pyeongtaek, where South Korean media said police counted about 30,000 workers and the union put attendance at 37,000. The union is demanding that 15% of operating profit be allocated to employee bonuses with no cap, along with a 7% increase in base pay. If negotiations fail to produce a deal by May 21, the union says it will begin an 18-day general strike.
The rally drew pushback on site. Some Samsung shareholders staged a counter-protest and criticized the union’s demands as “very greedy.” That left workers, management pressure, and shareholder anger converging at the entrance to the chip complex rather than staying inside formal bargaining channels.
Why the 15% demand matters
The report said market estimates place Samsung’s 2026 full-year operating profit at about 306 trillion won, or roughly $207 billion. Using the union’s proposed formula, the bonus pool would reach about 45 trillion won. That is close to four times last year’s total dividend payout of 11.1 trillion won.
The sticking point is not only the percentage. It is the absence of a ceiling. Bonus systems usually include a cap to limit payouts in years of unusually strong earnings, but the union’s proposal removes that limit and ties employee compensation much more directly to profit performance.
Management’s offer stops at 10%
Samsung management has already responded with a proposal of its own, offering to allocate 10% of operating profit to bonuses. It also said compensation for employees in the memory business would be kept “above competitors,” a message aimed at retaining workers in the company’s most strategically sensitive chip operations.
The gap remains wide. The union is holding to 15% with no upper limit, while management is trying to keep the discussion at 10%.
Rival pay packages are raising the stakes
The timing of the dispute also reflects what is happening across the semiconductor industry. The report cited SK hynix’s 72% operating margin in the first quarter of 2026, described as the highest quarterly figure ever recorded in the sector, and said production-line worker bonuses were rumored to reach NT$15 million. TSMC also announced pay increases this week, with senior S+ engineers receiving raises of up to 9%, average raises of 3% to 5%, and average employee profit-sharing of NT$2.64 million.
That backdrop helps explain why Samsung’s union chose this moment to push its strongest version of the bonus demand. The report also noted that Samsung’s chip division trailed SK hynix in the 2024 HBM race and is now trying to catch up. A prolonged dispute over compensation would leave the company dealing with more than a wage issue alone.