Samsung Electronics has asked its two largest unions back to the negotiating table after government-mediated talks collapsed, but the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) is maintaining its planned 18-day strike starting May 21. The core dispute is not the amount of compensation but whether the bonus formula is written into employment contracts. Samsung has offered a one-time bonus and ~13% profit share; the union demands 15%, a 7% base wage increase, and removal of the 50% bonus cap. The reference point is rival SK Hynix, which locked in a 10% annual operating profit share for staff for ten years with no cap. With Samsung's chip division driving ~94% of Q1 2026 operating profit and over 50,000 workers expected to strike, the action could disrupt HBM and server DRAM supply inside Nvidia's H2 production window. The Korean prime minister has called an emergency meeting on the dispute.
