At Samsung Electronics Co.'s main chip manufacturing center in the South Korean city of Pyeongtaek, 40,000 employees gathered demanding bonus payments.
They want it like SK Hynix
The reason for the workers' dissatisfaction is the significant difference in bonus amounts compared to competitor SK Hynix, which surpassed Samsung in supplying memory for Nvidia chips and other customers after the release of ChatGPT in late 2022.
As reported by Chosun Biz, employees are demanding the introduction of an unrestricted bonus payment system funded by 15% of Samsung Electronics' annual operating profit. If their demands are not met, workers will announce an 18-day strike starting May 21. This could lead to delays in deliveries to customers and an increase in chip prices.
AI suffers
The strike could drag on, leading to problems in chip production for AI, The Business Times reports.
The number of participants at the rally was higher than expected by the union's headquarters, the publication noted. Industry representatives expressed concerns that if the rally escalates into a strike and attendance remains the same, serious disruptions in production could occur.
On April 10, Germany's largest airline Lufthansa canceled hundreds of flights due to a one-day mass strike by flight attendants. This was announced as Lufthansa did not meet the demands in discussions regarding the working conditions of about 19,000 flight attendants.
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