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We are on the brink of closure, borrowing to pay employees and cover rent, while a powerful union that already receives some of the country’s highest wages and benefits is threatening a strike to demand larger bonuses. That prospect leaves small business owners with deep frustration and despair.
The Small Business Association gathered in front of Samsung Electronics’ Pyeongtaek campus, a central hub for South Korea’s exports. Worried a large-scale strike by Samsung’s labor union could collapse neighborhood commerce, small business owners have urged the union to withdraw the strike to protect their livelihoods.
On the 19th, the Small Business Association held a press conference at the main gate of Samsung’s Pyeongtaek campus, calling on the union to stop extreme labor actions and pursue dialogue for mutually beneficial labor-management relations.
Song Chi-young, president of the Small Business Association, warned that a strike at Samsung could trigger a devastating domino effect across South Korea’s economic ecosystem, extending far beyond a single corporate labor dispute. He said disruptions in semiconductor production would directly cause financial distress for many small and medium suppliers of materials, parts and equipment. That, he added, would lead to a \”revenue cliff\” for the small businesses that sustain industrial park supply chains and neighborhood economies around major corporations.
He strongly criticized the union’s demand for a 15% profit-sharing bonus and the removal of the cap on performance bonuses. Those requests, he said, drive a final nail into the hopes of many small business owners who struggle to earn even the minimum wage. He called it selfish for a powerful union to hold the economy hostage for its own gains.
Small business owners from Gyeonggi Province — including Pyeongtaek, Hwaseong and Yongin, which host large Samsung facilities — attended and voiced urgent concerns. Lee Sang-baek, head of the Gyeonggi Small Business Association, said neighborhood businesses in southern Gyeonggi cities such as Suwon, Seongnam, Yongin, Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong are already barely surviving amid rising rents, labor costs and electricity bills. He warned that Samsung’s Pyeongtaek campus links countless suppliers, lodging, food and retail businesses to the regional economy; if it shuts down, the damage will be borne directly by local small businesses.
Nearby merchants who joined the press conference echoed those concerns. Lim Yong-pil, head of the Pyeongtaek Small Business Association, warned that if strike-related disruptions drag on, small businesses could suffer long-term damage and said they would not hesitate to pursue a class-action lawsuit against the Samsung labor union to protect their livelihoods.
The Small Business Association presented three demands to the union: immediately call off the general strike; halt extreme labor actions and pursue cooperation through dialogue; and fulfill social responsibilities to help stabilize the national economy.
Song said a labor movement that abandons coexistence cannot win public sympathy. \”We will closely monitor developments in this Samsung strike and continue to amplify the voices of small business owners on the ground to protect livelihoods and stabilize the everyday economy,\” he said.
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