How a looming Samsung AI workers’ strike in Korea led to €350,000 bonuses
Facebook
Twitter
Flipboard
Send
Reddit
Linkedin
Messenger
Telegram
VK
Bluesky
Threads
Whatsapp
Samsung is only the second company known to strike a profit-sharing agreement with AI workers, according to local reporting.
Employees working on Samsung’s semiconductor AI chips are set to receive bonuses of approximately €350,000 after striking a profit-sharing agreement.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Two unions for the semiconductor producer, based in Korea, said 74% of their members, more than 60,000 people, voted in favour of a deal, which halted an 18-day strike action.
Under the deal, semiconductor workers will receive a performance bonus equivalent to 10.5% of the company’s earnings, to be paid out in stock, according to the Korean news agency Yonhap.
Bonus payments could reach 600 million won (€346,750) for more than 28,000 employees at the company’s chip division if Samsung’s operating profit surpasses the 300 trillion won (€172 billion) it is estimated to hit this year, Yonhap reported.
“Starting with the conclusion of this wage agreement, labour and management will work together with one mind to strengthen global competitiveness,” Yeo Myung-gu, vice-president of Samsung Electronics, said in a statement after the vote.
Related“I thank the labour union and all employees for engaging in negotiations with sincerity and never letting go of the thread of dialogue until the end.”
The deal was struck less than 48 hours after a Korean court overturned an injunction sought by five Samsung employees to suspend the collective bargaining process led by the company’s union, according to the Korea Herald.
Samsung employees have been pursuing strike action in Korea since last December, when they initially filed for a 7% wage increase.
Are other unions asking for the same thing?
Samsung’s Korean semiconductor rival, SK Hynix, has reportedly already allocated 10% of its operating profit to bonuses last year. Under this new structure, chip workers could be receiving up to 3,000% of their base salary in bonuses.
Employees at other Korean companies, including mobile network operator LG and internet company Kakao, are now asking for AI-related bonuses as well and threaten strikes if their terms are not met, according to local media reports.
RelatedMeanwhile, Taiwanese semiconductor giant TSMC promised that employees would see an average of 30% increase in their profit-sharing bonus this year, according to Bloomberg.
A handful of European and global unions are asking that workers receive a “fair share” of profits from the AI boom, including the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the UK’s Trade Union Congress (TUC).
The Uni Global Union asks for the economic prosperity created by AI “to be distributed broadly and equally, to benefit all of humanity”, through global and national policies.
Euronews Next followed up with these unions to see whether any collective bargaining actions had been launched to get similar guarantees for AI workers, but did not receive an immediate reply.
Go to accessibility shortcuts Share CommentsRead more
EU fines Temu €200m for dangerous baby toys and faulty chargers
Схожі новини
Streamer D4vd becomes center of alleged $1.2M insider betting scandal involving a Google engineer
