Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) has taken legal action ahead of a union strike in what appears to be a preemptive move to block the potential damage an illegal strike could inflict on the national economy and semiconductor industry. The company filed for a preliminary injunction with the court, making clear its position that while it respects the legal right to strike, it cannot tolerate illegal actions outside the boundaries of the law. The Samsung Electronics union has announced a general strike from May 21 to June 7.
The conflict originated from differences between labor and management during wage negotiations. To reach a settlement, the company offered an industry-leading compensation package averaging approximately 540 million won per person for the memory division (600% of average base salary). However, the union rejected this, demanding 15% of operating profit as the funding source. Assuming this year's operating profit at 250 trillion won, that would amount to approximately 37.5 trillion won.
The union leadership declared it would occupy all worksites, stating that "an 18-day strike would cause nearly 30 trillion won in losses," and did not hesitate to make threatening remarks about identifying workers who do not participate in the strike. Ultimately, the company resorted to the drastic measure of filing for an injunction to fundamentally block four types of illegal acts strictly prohibited under the Trade Union Act: obstructing the operation of safety protection facilities, halting work to prevent equipment damage and raw material deterioration, occupying key facilities, and coercing participation in the strike.
Samsung Electronics' greatest concern is the major safety accidents and astronomical property damage that could result from extreme occupation or facility shutdowns. Semiconductor facilities handle large quantities of hazardous chemicals including toxic and flammable gases and strong acids. If firefighting and exhaust systems stop due to a strike, it could lead to chemical leaks or explosions threatening nearby communities.
The damage from equipment destruction would be beyond imagination. Wafers in production, worth tens of millions of won each, irreversibly deteriorate the moment security operations stop and must be entirely scrapped. Advanced semiconductor equipment worth up to 500 billion won per unit requires months of recovery time once power is cut due to internal contamination, leaving irreparable damage.
Global supply chain disruptions and capital market shocks are also key reasons for the preemptive response. Samsung Electronics currently stands at a critical juncture as it prepares for the world's first HBM4 mass production in 2026 while negotiating major supply contracts with Nvidia and AMD. If production line occupations disrupt the supply chain, there is a possibility that key clients applying strict evaluation standards could defect en masse, surrendering market leadership to competitors such as those in Taiwan.
The domestic stock market would also face a direct hit. As of that day, the combined market capitalization of Samsung Electronics (1,277.4 trillion won) and Samsung Electronics preferred shares (119.55 trillion won) totaled 1,396.97 trillion won, accounting for 27.4% of the KOSPI market (5,106.02 trillion won). With 4.61 million retail and institutional investors involved, observers warn that massive losses triggered by an illegal strike could push the entire domestic stock market into panic, beyond just causing the company's stock price to fall.
Concerns about the collapse of the export ecosystem are also significant. As of March this year, semiconductor exports totaled $32.83 billion, accounting for 38.1% of Korea's total exports. If strike damages reach 5 to 10 trillion won as estimated by the industry, between 1.25 trillion won and 2.5 trillion won in corporate tax revenue would evaporate, directly impacting national finances.
The ripple effects would also spread to regional economies. A single production line at the Pyeongtaek campus creates 30,000 jobs and is connected to approximately 1,700 tier-one through tier-three suppliers. If factories stop, it could lead not only to massive employment instability but also to a chain of bankruptcies among businesses in nearby areas including Pyeongtaek.
"Despite the company's offer of an exceptional compensation package, the union's announcement of extreme measures such as illegal site occupation lacks justification," an industry official said. "Damage to national core industrial facilities directly translates into risks for the broader macroeconomy, so this injunction filing is an indispensable measure to prevent irreversible damage."
