High-flying Samsung Biologics is facing a rare bit of public turbulence after the CDMO’s labor union secured the votes needed to strike, signaling a potential escalation in an impasse over what the union has branded “[u]nresolved governance failures and rigid labor policies” at the company.
More than 95% of the Samsung Biologics Labor Union members have voted in favor of taking strike action and are now threatening to follow through with an “offline rally” on April 22 and a potential general strike on May 1 if the South Korean manufacturing firm does not address its concerns, the union said in a March 30 press release.
The union represents roughly 75% of Samsung Biologics total workforce, per the announcement.
The union noted that its escalation comes after Icheon’s Regional Labor Relations Commission elected to cease meditations between the groups. Samsung Bio is headquartered Incheon, South Korea, and hosts much of its manufacturing network there.
The group’s threat of action is “not merely a wage dispute,” according to the union release, which suggested that some workers have “deep structural concerns regarding the company’s [environmental, social and governance] management, lack of operational autonomy, and passive labor relations.”
The union says it has specifically tried to spotlight unresolved corporate governance issues, including allegations of unfair labor practices and unauthorized use of employee personal data—a story that the union notes was picked up by a major South Korean broadcaster last fall.
Pay remains an issue as well, with the union criticizing Samsung Bio for offering new wage conditions “below last year’s” despite a whopping 56.6% increase in operating profit in 2025. That in turn “exposes a lack of independent bargaining authority,” the union further alleged, contending that Samsung Bio has adhered to a group-wide wage guideline set by its parent, Samsung Electronics, despite its own record performance last year.
“A strike is a constitutionally protected and necessary tool to bring management to the negotiating table,” Jaesung Park, president of the Samsung Biologics Labor Union, said in a statement Monday. “In the global Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) industry, unresolved labor disputes and compliance issues directly threaten the supply chain of our international clients.”
He continued, “Ultimately, our strike is aimed at correcting these governance failures and promoting a more transparent and accountable corporate environment."
"Samsung Biologics respects the legitimate activities of labor unions and remains dedicated to fostering constructive labor‑management relations," a Samsung Biologics spokesperson said in a statement to Fierce.
The representative added that Samsung Bio "remains committed to engaging in constructive dialogue with the union, with a clear focus on reaching a mutually acceptable resolution and ensuring that client campaigns are unaffected."
Last year, Samsung Bio reported an impressive 30% sales boost to 4.6 trillion Korean won ($3.1 billion), becoming the first Korean biotech or pharma company to surpass the 2 trillion won in annual profit threshold.
Against that backdrop, the union has been bargaining for a 14% wage increase, including performance-based raises, while Samsung Bio management has offered a 6.2% increase, according to local news outlet Seoul Economic Daily.
The two parties have now been through 13 rounds of wage and collective bargaining negotiations, according to the publication, which also noted that the union is jockeying for a 36-hour workweek, an extension of the company’s retirement age to 65 and a 30-million-won labor-management mutual prosperity bonus.
Multiple major branded drugmakers, from Perrigo and GSK to Sanofi and Pfizer, have faced real or threatened strike action in recent years.
Last year, more than 200 employees at consumer healthcare firm Perrigo walked off the job after negotiations around overtime protection rollbacks and retirement package contributions broke down.
And amid plans to spin off its consumer health unit Opella, France’s Sanofi in 2024 faced a call for its employees to strike from the country’s General Confederation of Labour and the French Democratic Confederation of Labour over concerns that the unit’s sale might whittle down the company’s local production footprint.
Sanofi at the time stressed that no part of its plans involved reducing its consumer health business’ industrial footprint in France. The Opella spinoff was completed last April with the sale of a 50% controlling stake in the business to Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for 10 billion euros.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with a statement from Samsung Biologics.