Samsung union suspends strike after agreeing on bonuses
Samsung Electronics' largest union has called off its strike after reaching an agreement with management on a bonus package. The decision is critical for the global HBM3E AI memory supply chain. Production will return to full capacity in the coming days.
Samsung Electronics' main representative union, the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), announced late Wednesday that it had suspended the planned strike after reaching a deal with management. According to Nikkei Asia, the agreement raises the annual bonus-to-base-pay ratio by 7% and introduces a new formula for performance bonuses. Around 47,000 members are affected.
The high turnout for the strike that began the previous day at the Singapore, Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong sites had already triggered immediate shocks along the production chain. Samsung officials said in a statement that production of HBM3E, the high-bandwidth memory used in AI accelerators, will return to full capacity within the next 72 hours. These memory chips form the backbone of Nvidia and AMD AI processors.
South Korea's finance minister described the mediation as 'constructive'; the labour ministry said that a sector-level dialogue table will be set up to resolve future disputes earlier. Wall Street analysts expect a recovery in Samsung's Tokyo-listed ADRs. The union said a fresh round of pay scale talks will be held in September.
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