Tens of thousands of Samsung workers will strike in May over wages, raising concerns for AI chip production.
SEOUL: Tens of thousands of Samsung Electronics workers have voted to strike in May over a wage dispute, raising concerns over production of advanced memory chips crucial for artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The firm is one of two South Korean chipmakers, along with SK hynix, now vital suppliers for booming AI demand, making the strike announcement a blow to South Korea’s bid to join the United States and China as a top-three AI power.
Samsung announced last month it had begun mass production of next-generation high-bandwidth memory chips, HBM4s, a key component for scaling up the vast data centres driving AI.
More than 66,000 of nearly 90,000 unionised workers took part in the vote on whether to strike, according to an association of three unions.
“Of those who voted, 93.1% voted in favour,” the union association said in a press release.
“This result makes clear that the vast majority of Samsung Electronics workers reject the company’s current proposal as failing to uphold the management principle of ‘People First’,” it added.
The unions’ demands include a 7% wage hike, the removal of a cap on bonuses and a more transparent performance-based bonus system.
The will of the workers was a “strong warning to the leadership”, the union statement said.
Samsung told AFP it remained “committed to reaching a smooth agreement” with the unions.
Founder Lee Byung-chul, who died in 1987, was long staunchly anti-union and once vowed never to allow unions “until I have dirt over my eyes”.
Samsung Electronics’ first labour union was formed in the late 2010s.
