Samsung Electronics reaches a tentative deal with union leaders to provide large annual bonuses to semiconductor employees, after workers threatened an 18-day strike. Multiple reports say the average bonus offered to memory and chip-line employees is around $338,000 to $340,000 for the year, with some accounts describing higher potential bonuses for certain groups. The agreement follows a dispute tied to a bonus cap for semiconductor division employees, amid a sharp rise in chip profits driven by the AI boom.
According to reports, union members vote to approve the deal, and the strike that was scheduled to begin is averted. Bloomberg also reports Samsung plans to distribute about 40 trillion won (about $26.6 billion) in bonuses to chip employees, linking payments to the company’s increased earnings. Other outlets note that the profit-sharing terms are not uniform across roles, and some workers express resentment that colleagues may receive significantly larger bonus figures than others.
Overall, the reported agreement is presented as a last-minute labor settlement intended to share more of Samsung’s AI-driven windfall while preventing a major disruption to operations.
