Samsung Workers Strike in South Korea

More than 6,500 Samsung Electronics Co. workers have left their jobs and staged a rally demanding better pay. This rally has become the most significant organized labor action in the company’s half-century history, and strikers are hoping their walkout will spur significant changes moving forward.

The Financial Times reports that the company’s employee walkout is over pay and working conditions. The union demands that Samsung respect labor activities, raise holiday allowances, and increase bonuses.  

Per Business Korea, the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) held a general strike resolution meeting in front of the main gate of H1 at Samsung’s Hwaseong plant at 11 a.m. on July 8. The first general strike will last three days until July 10, the NSEU said.

Samsung Electronics hit by unprecedented 3-day strike https://t.co/YqO3HBjAP3

— FT World News (@ftworldnews) July 8, 2024

Wearing rain jackets and holding posters and ribbons saying “fight with solidarity,” according to Outlook India, thousands of workers gathered outside the company’s foundry and semiconductor factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, an hour south of Seoul. Samsung management has been locked in negotiations with the union since January, with the two sides failing to narrow differences on benefits and rejecting the firm’s 5.1% pay raise offer.

Subsequently, due to striking workers, the company expects disruption to Samsung’s chipmaking operations. The company claims the 6,500 workers who took part in the walkout were more than expected.

“The timing of this strike is particularly critical as it coincides with ongoing semiconductor supply chain challenges,” said Billy Leung, an investment strategist at Global X Management Co., a Mirae Asset Financial Group member, to Bloomberg. Reportedly, Samsung produces around 20% of the global DRAM market and about 40% of NAND flash.

These items are used in smartphones and servers. “Any disruption in Samsung’s operations could have a ripple effect,” Leung continued.

The union plans to hold another five-day strike starting on July 15 if negotiations between the employees and management do not yield results. Samsung previously prevented its employees from unionizing until 2020, per Reuters. The site reports that union membership increased rapidly after that point.