GoKawiilTOPSHOT - Members of the Samsung Electronics labour union hold signs reading "Change it to be transparent!" as they stage a mass rally demanding the removal of a cap on performance bonuses, outside the company's foundry and semiconductor factory in Pyeongtaek on April 23, 2026. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP via Getty Images)
South Korea's largest company Samsung Electronics lost as much as 99.07 trillion won ($66.18 billion) in market value on Wednesday after failing to reach a wage agreement with its workers union.
This represented an intraday drop of as much as 6.09% in its share price from yesterday's close of 279,000 won, and comes as its labor union threatened an 18-day strike from May 21 if its demands were not met.
More than 41,000 workers are expected to join the walkout, which was first announced at a rally on April 23.
"I would like to express some regret that none of the agenda items requested by the union have been addressed," union representative Choi Seung-ho told reporters Wednesday, according to a report by Reuters.
The demands center on Samsung's performance-based bonus system. The union is reportedly demanding that Samsung allocate 15% of its operating profit to workers as performance bonuses, scrap caps on bonus payouts, and formalize the bonus structure.
Samsung's management offered to allocate 10% of operating profit to bonuses and provide a one-time special compensation package, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The union said its rally on April 23, which drew 40,000 workers, caused a 58% drop in foundry production and an 18% fall in memory production for Samsung on that day.
It added that an 18-day strike could cost Samsung 30 trillion won, or about $20 billion.
In a post on X, South Korea's Finance Minister Koo Yun Cheol said the government "deeply regrets" the failure to reach a resolution and warned that "strikes must never happen under any circumstances."
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