Photo: Samsung Biologics labor union at a strike. Credit: Newsis.
On May 1, the 2.8k members of the Samsung Biologics 삼성바이오로직스 labor union began a five-day strike, the first in the 15-year history of the Samsung Group’s pharmaceutical arm. The labor union at Samsung Electronics 삼성전자, the crown jewel of the Samsung Group, also announced that its workers will begin striking on May 21 if they fail to reach a collective bargaining agreement with the management by then.
The strike is unusual for Samsung companies, where unions have historically been more dovish than unions at other South Korean chaebol 재벌 corporations. One of its causes is the massive bonuses paid by rival semiconductor maker SK Hynix SK 하이닉스, which has been enjoying unprecedented growth thanks to exploding demand for data centers. SK Hynix pledged to distribute 10% of its operating profit as bonuses projected to work out to KRW 630m (USD 429k) per employee - a staggering amount in a country where the average annual income is around KRW 45m.
SK Hynix’s bonuses have become a benchmark for workers at other major corporations. The Samsung Biologics union has demanded 20% of operating profits as a bonus; the Hyundai Motors 현대자동차 union, 30%. If that sounds like a lot, you’re not alone. Even President Lee Jae-myung 이재명, a former labor attorney with a lifelong disability from an injury he sustained as a child laborer, has decried the demands, calling them “selfish, excessive and unjustified.”
