SEOUL — Samsung Electronics and its labor union started talks on Monday in a last-ditch bid to avert the biggest strike in the tech giant's history, amid concerns that a walkout by more than 45,000 workers could hit South Korea's economy and disrupt global supply chains.

The threatened 18-day strike starting on Thursday comes amid an acute global shortage of memory chips, which are essential components in AI data centers, smartphones and laptops. The shortage has boosted profits at Samsung and its peers in recent months.

Park Su-keun, chairman of the National Labor Relations Commission, said that talks would resume on Tuesday after noting that the two sides remained far apart on Monday.

The union has asked Samsung to abolish a bonus cap of 50 percent on annual salaries and allocate 15 percent of annual operating profit to a bonus pool shared by workers and formalize this in contracts.

Adding to pressure on the union, a South Korean court partially granted Samsung's request for an injunction, ordering the union to ensure any strike did not disrupt production.

The ruling means a strike must not lead to the degradation of materials used in production, while operations related to safety and avoiding product damage must be maintained at normal levels, a court spokesperson said by telephone.

The two main unions could face fines of 100 million won ($72,000) per day each if they fail to comply, while union leaders could be fined 10 million won per day, the spokesperson said.

The union said in a statement that the court ruling would not dissuade it from pursuing a strike if talks did not achieve a deal, but pledged to engage seriously in negotiations.

Samsung Electronics declined to comment.

South Korean government officials have increasingly voiced concerns about the strike, warning it could pose a significant risk to economic growth, exports and financial markets.

Govt's call

President Lee Jae-myung, who is a former rights lawyer and is seen as leading a union-friendly government, said in a social media post on Monday that management rights should be respected as much as labor rights.

"In South Korea … labor should be respected as much as businesses, and corporate management rights should be respected as much as labor rights," Lee wrote on X.

He said that workers should receive fair compensation for their efforts, while shareholders who bear risks and losses through investments also deserve a share of corporate profits.

South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said on Sunday the government would pursue all options, including emergency arbitration, to prevent a strike.

An emergency arbitration order, which can be invoked by the labor minister if it is deemed that a dispute is likely to harm the economy or daily life, immediately prohibits industrial action for 30 days while the National Labor Relations Commission conducts mediation and arbitration.

The union has said it would not give in to pressure on arbitration and would not agree to a pay deal should the company offer a less favorable proposal.

Agencies via Xinhua