Samsung's union puts off strike after reaching last-minute wage deal with management
Source: AP
By KIM TONG-HYUNG and HYUNG-JIN KIM
Updated 9:48 AM CDT, May 20, 2026
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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics’ labor union said Wednesday it’ll hold off on launching a planned strike and put a tentative wage deal with management to a vote, alleviating immediate concerns about the operation of the world’s largest memory chip maker.
The announcement was made after a last-minute government-mediated negotiation with management over how much bonus payouts must be provided to employees to reflect soaring profits fueled by the global boom in artificial intelligence.
Union leader Choi Seung-ho told a televised briefing that the union agreed not to go ahead with an 18-day strike that he earlier said would start from Thursday. He said union members will vote on the tentative agreement from May 22-27.
“We would like to express our apologies to the people for causing concerns due to our internal conflicts,” Choi said. “The agreement is the result of our all-out struggle spanning about six months.”
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/korea-samsung-union-strike-memory-981e7cba3729539f46c26af8bb1dee9a