The leveraged exchange-traded fund (ETF) tracking Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (07747) has rebounded sharply, gaining over 6%. As of the latest update, the fund is up 6.35%, trading at 149.05 Hong Kong dollars with a turnover of 21.4 billion Hong Kong dollars.
Market reports on May 13 indicate that the head of the Samsung Electronics union in South Korea stated that the company and the union failed to reach an agreement on wage negotiations this Wednesday. The union anticipates a full-scale strike involving more than 50,000 employees, which could potentially disrupt production of artificial intelligence and other semiconductor chips.
Union representative Choi Seung-ho noted that the company did not respond to the union's demands regarding the reform of the compensation structure. These demands include eliminating the current cap on bonuses, which is set at 50% of the annual base salary, and instead calculating bonuses solely based on operating profits. The union had previously warned that if its demands are not met, employees would commence an 18-day strike starting May 21.
On May 13, Samsung Electronics' market capitalization briefly plummeted by 99.07 trillion Korean won (approximately 661.8 billion U.S. dollars). However, the company recovered these losses following intervention by senior South Korean government officials aimed at alleviating strike concerns.
South Korean Finance Minister Koo Yun Cheol expressed on the X platform that the government "deeply regrets" the failure of both labor and management to reach an agreement and warned that "a strike must not occur under any circumstances." Minister Koo further emphasized that, given the current management situation and its impact on the national economy, both parties must continue to engage in principled negotiations.
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