Samsung Biologics strike enters 2nd day; ₩640bn loss risk looms
Unionised workers at Samsung Biologics, the contract drug manufacturing arm of Samsung Group, extended their walkout into a second consecutive day on Saturday, 3 May 2025, with the union and management showing little sign of narrowing deep differences over wages and incentives. The strike — the first in the company's history since its founding in 2011 — has put at risk an estimated ₩640 billion (approximately US$433 million) in potential losses, according to the company's own projections.
What the Union Is Demanding
The Samsung Biologics union is seeking a 14 percent increase in both base and performance-related pay, a one-off cash incentive of ₩30 million per worker, and bonuses equivalent to 20 percent of annual operating profit. Against these demands, the company has tabled a combined 6.2 percent increase in base and performance pay — a figure the union has rejected as inadequate.
Negotiations have stalled despite 13 rounds of talks held between December 2024 and March 2025, underscoring how entrenched both sides have become. The gap between a 6.2 percent offer and a 14 percent demand is not a minor arithmetic difference — it reflects a broader dispute over how workers should share in the company's rapid growth.
Company Response and Financial Exposure
Samsung Biologics acknowledged that some operational disruption was unavoidable, even as it said it was deploying all available personnel to minimise impact. The company estimated that a full-scale strike could result in losses exceeding ₩640 billion — roughly half of its first-quarter sales of ₩1.26 trillion. That figure underscores how labour-intensive and time-sensitive contract biomanufacturing is, where production delays can cascade into missed client delivery windows.
In a message to employees released on Friday, Samsung Biologics President and Chief Executive Officer John Rim urged workers to carefully consider their participation in the strike.
