Samsung's worker strike has been declared illegal

Bad news for $MU and SK Hynix, good news for Samsung
Not the best for worker morale, though
A South Korean court issued a partial injunction blocking Samsung’s labor union from proceeding with an 18-day strike that was scheduled to begin on May 21
The union had demanded a bonus equivalent to 15% of Samsung’s annual operating profit, roughly $30 billion
According to KB Securities, if only 30–40% of union members had participated, the strike could have reduced global supply by:
-> 3–4% for DRAM
-> 2–3% for NAND
At a time when DRAM inventories are reportedly only 4–6 weeks of demand, even a modest disruption could have intensified the ongoing memory shortage and pushed prices materially higher
The injunction effectively makes a strike extremely difficult. If the union ignores the ruling, it faces fines of 100 million won per day
In parallel, the South Korean government signaled that it was prepared to invoke its Emergency Arbitration Authority, which can suspend strike action for up to 30 days
Samsung also replaced its lead negotiator and resumed talks with the union, reducing tensions further