Samsung Electronics employees in South Korea have started a three-day strike to demand improved wages and additional annual leave for unionised workers.
The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), representing around 30,000 members or roughly 24 per cent of Samsung’s South Korean workforce, has warned of further industrial action if their demands are not met.
The strike began on Monday and has seen 6,540 workers, primarily from manufacturing sites and product development, participate in the walkout. Despite this, analysts suggest the impact on Samsung’s production will be minimal due to the company’s automated processes and the relatively low participation rate. Last month, the union organised its first industrial action by coordinating annual leave to stage a mass walkout, which Samsung claimed did not affect business operations.
Union president Son Woo-mok defended the participation rate, attributing it to the union’s young age of five years and the limited time available to educate members about union activities. Senior union leader Lee Hyun-kuk indicated the potential for another strike if current demands are ignored. The union has criticized Samsung’s bonus system as unfair, arguing that it deducts the cost of capital from operating profit, thereby reducing bonuses.
Since Samsung’s commitment in 2020 to cease discouraging organised labor, union membership has grown, reflecting a decline in staff loyalty. This increase in union activity poses another challenge for Samsung as it navigates the competitive landscape of AI chip production. Recently, Samsung projected a more than 15-fold increase in second-quarter operating profit, driven by a rebound in semiconductor prices fueled by the AI boom.
(Inputs from Reuters)
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