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Dissent among Samsung union members grows as some decline to participate in actions

Published: 27 Apr. 2026, 17:54 Updated: 27 Apr. 2026, 18:04

Members of Samsung Electronics-affiliated labor unions call on the company to scrap a longstanding cap on bonuses during a massive rally inside the company's campus in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, on April 23. [NEWS1]

Tensions are growing inside Samsung Electronics, especially between protesters and union members sitting out the rally, as the chipmaker's labor union effectively coerced employees to take part in a general strike in its official statement.

As the standoff between management and labor over demands for expanded performance bonuses drags on, the conflict has now spread among labor union members, as some have opted not to participate in the protests.

“It would be difficult to regard colleagues as fellow workers any longer if you obstruct the devotion of other members during the general strike by standing on the company's side,” a statement released by the Samsung Electronics branch of the United Union on Monday, following its so-called struggle resolution rally held on Thursday, said.

The comment was directed at the approximately 36,000 union members who did not participate in the rally. The union has announced an 18-day general strike beginning May 21, emphasizing the need for all 76,000 members to join, and hinting at the possibility of internal exclusion for those who do not.
About 40,000 members took part in the Thursday demonstration. The union claimed that a single day's action reduced foundry output — semiconductor contract manufacturing — by 58 percent and memory output by 18 percent.

Onlookers say that the union's shot at its own members is not only excessive, but that a full-on strike could hamper Samsung Electronics' global client relationships. With long-term supply contracts expanding across both memory and foundry operations, production disruptions could lead directly to the loss of customers.

“Global Big Tech clients could consider alternative suppliers such as Taiwan's TSMC to diversify their risk,” Song Heon-jae, a professor of economics at the University of Seoul, said at a recent Ahnmin Institute for Public Policy seminar. “Semiconductor processes require enormous time and cost to verify, meaning a customer who leaves once rarely comes back,” Song said.

“The costs of a strike can be divided into ‘visible losses,’ such as production stoppages and declining sales, and ‘invisible losses,’ such as weakened trust, delayed investment and damage to the industrial ecosystem. The latter can be longer-term and more devastating,” Song said.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY PARK YOUNG-WOO [[email protected]]