Samsung workers are threatening an 18-day strike over a widening pay gap with SK Hynix, in what could be the company’s most disruptive labour action yet.
Tens of thousands of Samsung Electronics workers gathered at the Pyeongtaek factory campus south of Seoul on Thursday, April 23. Union organisers put the attendance at 40,000, making it the largest protest in the company’s history.
Tens of thousands of people gathered outside Samsung's main chip hub to demand employees get a greater share of profits reaped from the AI boom https://t.co/uxsyNUR2dl
— Bloomberg (@business) April 23, 2026
Workers wore black vests during the mass sit-in. The demonstration reflects growing frustration that has been building since Samsung employees walked out for the first time ever in 2024.
If the union’s demands are not met, workers plan to strike for 18 consecutive days starting May 21. That timeline would cut into AI chip production and could delay shipments to major customers.
A Samsung official, speaking anonymously, warned that “even a single strike” could damage customer trust and take years to repair.
The AI boom has pushed Samsung’s profits to record levels. Yet many workers feel they have not shared in that success, especially compared to colleagues at rival SK Hynix.
SK Hynix got ahead of Samsung in supplying high bandwidth memory chips to Nvidia and others after the launch of ChatGPT in late 2022. That head start translated into bigger profits — and bigger bonuses for its workers.
The numbers tell the story. A Samsung chip division employee earning a base salary of 76 million won would receive roughly 38 million won in bonus pay for 2025. A similar employee at SK Hynix would receive more than three times that amount.
“More than 90% of employees work for pay, and the compensation gap has become so wide that it’s driving these moves,” said Song Yong-gi, a logistics worker in Samsung’s chip division.
Multiple workers at the rally said colleagues had already left for SK Hynix. The talent drain concern is now central to the union’s argument.
In September, SK Hynix agreed to union demands for compensation reform, including scrapping its cap on bonus pay entirely. That move inflamed Samsung workers and sparked a surge in union membership.
Samsung’s union now counts more than 90,000 members — over 70% of the company’s South Korean workforce.
The union is asking for three main things: the removal of Samsung’s 50% annual salary bonus cap, an allocation of 15% of annual operating profit as bonus pay, and a 7% increase in base salaries.
Management has pushed back. Samsung has offered to allocate 10% of operating profit for performance pay and has proposed additional funding to ensure memory division employees out-earn rival workers this year.
Samsung said it would continue working toward a swift agreement in wage negotiations.
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