TECH NEWS – The South Korean company averted an 18-day strike, but only just before the deadline.

Everything seems to be back to normal in the world of Samsung. The proverbial sword of Damocles, in the form of an 18-day strike with serious consequences, has once again been sheathed over the global memory manufacturing sector. Now, all eyes are on the upcoming vote to approve the agreement. About an hour before Samsung union members were set to begin the strike, company management and union representatives reached a tentative agreement.

The breakthrough came when South Korea’s labor minister joined the negotiations and Samsung management promised to build a more constructive labor relationship with a more humble attitude. Samsung union members had demanded a bonus amounting to 15% of the company’s annual operating profit. The provisional agreement reduces this amount to 12% (11.5%, according to some sources) but offers unlimited special bonuses to employees in the semiconductor division. SK Hynix employees will receive a bonus equivalent to 10% of the company’s annual operating profit.

BREAKING: Samsung union official says Samsung could set aside about 11.5% of operating profit for bonuses under the tentative labor deal

The figure gives investors one of the clearest signals yet on how aggressively Samsung may share AI-era semiconductor profits with employees… pic.twitter.com/dotWDxxO76

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Samsung union members can vote on the agreement from 9:00 a.m. on May 21 until 10:00 p.m. on May 28. If approved, the wage dispute at Samsung, which has been ongoing for more than five months, will likely come to a peaceful conclusion. A strike would have had severe consequences for the global memory industry. According to KB Securities, a strike involving 30-40% of Samsung union members could cause a 3-4% global supply disruption for DRAM and a 2-3% disruption for NAND. This would occur at a time when global DRAM inventories can only meet 4-6 weeks of demand, already at critically low levels.

It’s true that SK Hynix allocates a smaller percentage to bonuses. However, we previously reported that Samsung grew into a trillion-dollar company thanks to massive profits from the RAMpocalypse, so it certainly has the means to pay bonuses.

Source: WCCFTech, Korea Herald