Samsung Electronics has filed for a court injunction with the Suwon District Court in an effort to prevent its unionised workers from occupying key production facilities ahead of a planned general strike, industry sources said on Thursday.

Unionised workers at the South Korean tech giant — one of the world's largest manufacturers of semiconductors and consumer electronics — voted last month to authorise strike action and have threatened to walk out for 18 days beginning May 21 if wage negotiations with management fail to produce an agreement. The unions have also announced plans to hold a large-scale rally on April 23.

The dispute centres on the allocation of performance-based bonuses. Wage talks that began last month broke down quickly after the two sides could not agree on removing a cap on such bonuses. The union has reportedly demanded that 15 percent of the company's operating profit be directed toward worker bonuses — a significant sum given that Samsung Electronics posted 57 trillion won (approximately US$38.7 billion) in operating profit in the first quarter of this year alone.

Samsung stressed that its legal application is not intended to suppress workers' constitutionally protected right to engage in labour disputes, but rather to prevent specific actions it says are prohibited by law — in particular, any attempt to occupy semiconductor production lines or other critical facilities, which it warns could cause severe operational losses.

The move highlights the delicate balance between labour rights and business continuity in South Korea's export-driven economy, where disruptions to semiconductor manufacturing can have ripple effects across global supply chains. Samsung has not issued a formal public comment on the court filing, and the outcome of the injunction request remains pending. With the May 21 strike date approaching and talks currently stalled, pressure on both sides to return to the negotiating table is likely to intensify in the coming weeks.