This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz RM Report website at 3:19 p.m. on May 14, 2026.
With the labor union of Samsung Electronics set to launch a general strike on the 21st, the court is expected to rule on an injunction the company filed to ban illegal industrial action before the strike. At the heart of the case is how far the union's right to strike can be limited on the grounds of safety and preservation work at semiconductor plants.
Samsung Electronics argues that the union's strike could interfere with safety protection facilities and raw material and equipment preservation work at semiconductor plants, causing irreparable harm. The union counters that it will leave the minimum personnel needed for safety and preservation, saying management is trying to excessively restrict the right to strike on that basis.
◇Samsung: "If the plant stops, recovery is impossible"... union: "We will leave the required personnel"
According to legal sources on the 14th, the Suwon District Court held a second hearing date the previous day on Samsung Electronics' application for an injunction to ban illegal industrial action against the union. At the hearing, the union presented a slide deck rebutting the injunction request, and Samsung Electronics responded in rebuttal. The court plans to reach a decision before the scheduled strike date on the 21st.
The Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act stipulates that even during industrial action, the maintenance and operation of safety protection facilities must not be obstructed. It also prohibits interference with work intended to prevent damage to work facilities or deterioration or spoilage of raw materials and products. Legal experts see the key issue as how to apply this provision to semiconductor plants.
Labor and management are at odds in four main areas.
① Scope of safety protection facilities. Samsung Electronics argues that if fire protection, exhaust, drainage, and power supply facilities at semiconductor plants are not maintained properly, fires, explosions, or chemical leaks could occur. It says essential personnel to manage these safety facilities must remain on-site during the strike.
The union does not deny the need to maintain safety protection facilities. However, it counters that management is drawing the scope of safety protection facilities too broadly. It says management is effectively trying to include personnel for maintaining production, not truly safety facilities like fire protection and power, as targets for strike restrictions.
② Scope of preventing damage to raw materials and equipment such as wafers. Samsung Electronics argues that if processes are halted due to a strike, wafers costing tens of millions of won per sheet could deteriorate or be scrapped. Because semiconductor processes can cause damage to raw materials and products if stopped midstream, preservation work before and after shutdown is essential.
In fact, in Feb. 2021, Samsung Electronics suffered losses of up to 400 billion won when power supply was cut off for about three days due to a snowstorm in Texas. It disrupted production of about 71,000 wafers, and it took about a month to restart the halted plant.
The union argues there are ways to prevent damage. A lawyer for the union said, "We proposed to the court a plan to prevent damage by not unsealing delivered wafers and stabilizing wafers already in the process." The union says it is not refusing necessary preservation work; rather, management is trying to use that as a pretext to effectively block the strike itself.
③ Maintenance of semiconductor equipment. Samsung Electronics argues that semiconductor equipment differs from general manufacturing equipment. Once the power is turned off or the process stops, restarting takes a long time, and this process can incur enormous expense. For example, if the chemical solution inside a cleaning tool hardens, all internal piping must be replaced, which could be tantamount to installing new equipment.
The union's position is that it will maintain the minimum work needed to prevent equipment damage. Even if it goes on strike, it says it does not intend to halt safety and preservation work that the law prohibits from being stopped.
④ Scope of no-occupation facilities. Samsung Electronics believes that because semiconductor manufacturing processes are organically connected, stopping even some production lines can affect the entire process. It therefore argues that occupations should be banned at key production facilities and related spaces.
The union counters that management's claim is excessive. It argues that designating general office spaces or warehouses as banned areas for industrial action overly restricts the right to strike.
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Based on the parties' arguments, the court is expected to determine how far safety protection facilities must be maintained during a strike, what work is needed to prevent damage to wafers and equipment, and to what extent the union's occupations can be restricted.
However, it is unclear whether the court will fully accept Samsung Electronics' application. In similar cases, courts have granted only part of management's requests.
In a prior case in which Samsung Biologics filed for an injunction to ban illegal industrial action by the union, the court restricted strikes only for certain processes. It banned strikes at three processes intended to prevent deterioration or spoilage of raw materials and products, but rejected requests for six culture and purification-related processes. The court held that while work to preserve raw materials and products is protected, it cannot broadly restrict industrial action across the board on the grounds of overall processes.
In this case as well, observers say the court may impose restrictions limited to certain facilities and tasks, rather than a blanket strike ban. If the court broadly accepts Samsung Electronics' application, the union's general strike may have reduced practical impact. Conversely, if only part is granted or it is rejected, the union is likely to proceed with the strike as planned while leaving essential personnel.
A legal official said, "The bench cannot ignore the particularities of semiconductor processes, but a decision that effectively neutralizes the right to strike would also be burdensome," adding, "Before it comes to a strike, the ideal path would be for the government to invoke emergency mediation powers so labor and management can return to talks."