Samsung workers stage large-scale rally, demand higher pay and bonus cap abolition

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The union has warned it will launch an 18-day total strike from 21 May 2026 unless employees’ demands are met.

Samsung Electronics’ first cross-enterprise labour union staged a large scale rally on 23 April 2026 at the company’s Pyeongtaek campus in Gyeonggi Province, demanding higher wages, a performance bonus top-up, and the abolition of the current performance bonus cap, according to Reuters and multiple media reports from Hong Kong and South Korea.

Local police estimated that about 30,000 participants took part in the rally, while the union claimed participation was closer to 40,000.

The union is calling on Samsung Electronics to raise employee wages by 7%, provide performance pay equivalent to 15% of operating profit, and abolish the existing cap that limits performance bonuses to 50% of an employee’s annual base salary.

Union representatives were quoted as issuing a warning that if management fails to respond to employees’ demands, a total strike lasting 18 days will begin on 21 May. If carried out, the move would mark the second strike in Samsung Electronics’ history since July 2024, and is expected to disrupt the company’s operations and potentially impact the global chip supply chain.

In response, Samsung Electronics said in a statement to AFP that it would “continue to work toward reaching a wage agreement at the earliest possible date”.

The rally follows growing discontent among Samsung employees amidst comparisons with the company’s key rival SK Hynix. Media reports noted that SK Hynix agreed to its union demands for compensation reforms and higher bonuses last September, fuelling frustrations at Samsung over widening pay gaps.

Union representatives were reported saying that more than 200 Samsung union members have left the company over the past four months to join SK Hynix, citing dissatisfaction with Samsung’s current bonus structure.

Samsung Electronics’ cross-enterprise labour union currently has more than 75,000 members, making it the first union in the company’s history to represent over half of its workforce. The union has been officially recognised as a “majority union” by South Korea’s Gyeonggi District Office of the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL), granting it formal status as employee representative and legally guaranteed rights, including the authority to engage in collective bargaining.