Samsung holds final talks with union over 18-day chip factory strike that could cost $20 billion

Government-mediated summit seeks to avert industrial action that could hit HBM production

Samsung and its largest labor coalition are sitting down for government-mediated negotiations over the next two days, the Korea Herald reported, with just 10 days remaining before a planned general strike that threatens to shut down the world’s biggest memory chip operation for more than two weeks.

The two sides are meeting through South Korea’s National Labor Relations Commission after earlier rounds of mediation in February and March collapsed without a deal. The union has warned it will walk out from May 21st through June 7th if the talks fail, and with roughly 73,000 members now enrolled, estimates put expected participation at 30,000 to 40,000 workers.

South Korean Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon welcomed the resumption of talks on X, writing that “the solution may already be close,” but as of 3 p.m. local time, no deal had reportedly been reached. The union has warned that the strike could create a shortfall of some $20.4 billion, according to reporting by Digitimes.

SOURCE: Tom’s Hardware