Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) executives have called on employees to "do their best in their respective roles so that our future competitiveness is not compromised," as the company's union prepares for a general strike.
According to industry sources on the 7th, Jun Young-hyun, Vice Chairman of Samsung Electronics' Device Solutions (DS) division, and Roh Tae-moon, President of the Device eXperience (DX) division, posted a message on the company's internal bulletin board regarding the status of wage negotiations.
"The company has been negotiating with the union's joint bargaining group since last December for the 2026 wage agreement," they said. "We have proposed alternatives that comprehensively consider employees, the company's future competitiveness, and business operating conditions, and have sought to broaden mutual understanding through dialogue with the union."
"However, we regret that a final agreement has yet to be reached," they added. "As negotiations drag on, we believe many employees are feeling concerned and frustrated."
The Samsung Electronics union has announced it will launch a general strike starting on the 21st of this month if the company does not pay 15% of operating profit as performance bonuses. Based on this year's operating profit forecast of approximately 300 trillion won, this amounts to 45 trillion won. If the union goes on a general strike, production and management stability are likely to be undermined at a time when the semiconductor industry is recovering and competition in the artificial intelligence (AI) memory market is intensifying.
"In this severe global business environment, all of us in management will take a responsible approach to ensure we do not lose our future competitiveness," Jun and Roh emphasized. "The company will continue discussions with an open attitude and work to find a direction that employees can agree with."
They also urged: "We ask all employees to do their best in their respective roles so that our future competitiveness is not compromised."
