Samsung workers embark on second, largest strike for better wages
Increases in wages and additional bonuses are being demanded by the employees of the South Korean conglomerate Samsung Electronics Co. On Monday, they began a three-day strike. Over 6,000 people participated in the picket line in front of the main gate of the factory in Hwaseong, 28 miles south of Seoul.
2:07 PM EDT, July 8, 2024
This is the second and largest protest action in the 55-year history of the technology giant so far, notes the Yonhap agency. The first strike occurred a month ago.
Participants in the strike who are members of the National Union of Samsung Electronics Workers (NSEU) make up about 24% of the 125,000 employees at Samsung Electronics. According to the NSEU, despite the rain, 6,540 union members from six plants took part in Monday's picket, including over 5,200 from the semiconductor and research & development sectors.
Strike? It's a "production disruption"
Organizers defined the goal of the strike as "production disruption." The NSEU emphasized that it will be achieved because more people participated in the first day of the protest action than expected.
The NSEU has been negotiating with the company's management since January regarding wage increases, the vacation system, and profit-sharing bonuses.
The union demands a one-day vacation for all employees and a significant raise for 855 members who did not sign an agreement regarding wage negotiations for 2024, according to Yonhap. They also demanded that the company offer more paid leave and provide compensation for losses incurred by employees during strikes.
"Now or never"
"We came out with the desperate assumption: now or never," said union chairman Son Wu Mok, adding, "We will continue to fight until the company changes."
The union plans another, this time five-day, strike starting from July 15 if negotiations between the employees and management do not yield results.
Some analysts point out that the participation of a small percentage of employees and automated production means that the strike may not have a significant impact on the production of the world's largest semiconductor manufacturer. Nevertheless, it signals a decline in employee morale at a crucial moment in the chip industry, as technology companies implement artificial intelligence.
Giant's problems
Samsung is struggling with poor performance and issues, especially in the semiconductor sector, where it recorded an annual loss of 15 trillion won ($11 billion) last year due to declining demand for IT products.
Samsung Electronics has been preventing its employees from unionizing for decades until 2020.
