Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) has filed for a provisional injunction against illegal strike activities ahead of a planned walkout by the National Samsung Electronics Union, aiming to preemptively prevent major safety incidents and large-scale production disruptions that could be triggered by an unlawful strike.
According to legal and business circles on the 16th, Samsung Electronics submitted the injunction request to the Suwon District Court, seeking to prohibit the union's illegal strike activities.
The company has offered a compensation package worth an average of 540 million won per employee in the memory business unit, equivalent to 600% of the average base salary, to reach a wage agreement. However, the union has demanded 15% of operating profit as the funding source and announced plans to begin a strike on the 21st of next month. If the injunction is granted, the strike would become impossible.
The union leadership stated through social media that "an 18-day strike would cause losses of 30 trillion won ($22 billion)," and sparked controversy by suggesting they would identify and penalize workers who do not participate in the strike.
Samsung Electronics maintains that while it respects the union's legitimate right to collective action, it will thoroughly block illegal activities that are strictly prohibited by law. The injunction request aims to prevent four types of illegal conduct: obstruction of safety protection facility operations, halting work to prevent equipment damage and deterioration of materials and products, occupation of major facilities including production lines, and coercion to participate in strikes through intimidation.
Semiconductor manufacturing processes handle large quantities of toxic gases and chemicals, creating significant risk of major casualties if exhaust and disaster prevention systems are shut down. If equipment power is cut, all wafers in process must be scrapped, and restoration takes anywhere from several days to several months, resulting in massive material losses.
The industry is concerned that if the strike materializes, the impact would extend beyond individual corporate losses to affect the national economy as a whole. As of March this year, semiconductor exports totaled $32.83 billion, accounting for 38.1% of Korea's total exports. If damages of 5 trillion to 10 trillion won occur as the industry estimates, corporate tax revenue could decline by up to 2.5 trillion won, dealing a direct blow to national fiscal management.
In particular, amid the restructuring of global semiconductor supply chains, production disruptions could directly lead to customer defection and market share decline. With supply contracts with key customers tied to developments such as mass production of sixth-generation High Bandwidth Memory (HBM4), stable volume supply is considered an essential element of corporate competitiveness.
"A production line shutdown could lead to financial difficulties for primary and secondary suppliers and economic stagnation in regions such as Pyeongtaek," a business community official said. "Rather than extreme measures that threaten industrial competitiveness, problems should be resolved through dialogue within legal boundaries."