A union representing tens of thousands of employees at South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics announced on July 10 that it will extend its general strike indefinitely.
Indefinite Strike
According to Ziare this move aims to pressure the company's management into negotiations.
This marks the largest protest in Samsung's history and increases pressure on the management team, which recently projected a 15-fold increase in operating profit for the second quarter.
"We are declaring a second indefinite general strike starting from July 10 after learning that the management team is unwilling to negotiate following the first general strike," announced the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) in a press release.
Over 5,000 Samsung Electronics employees stopped working on July 8, intending to conduct a three-day strike after unsuccessful negotiations regarding wages and social benefits. This three-day strike follows a one-day strike in June, which was the first of its kind in a company that operated for decades without unions.
The National Samsung Electronics Union has approximately 30,000 members, more than a fifth of the company's total workforce. Samsung's management claimed that the strike would not impact production. "Samsung Electronics will ensure that no disruptions occur on production lines," said a company spokesperson.
However, the union contends that there is a "clear disruption in production" and stated that the longer the strike lasts, "the more the management will suffer." "Eventually, they will have to kneel and come to the negotiating table. We are confident in victory," added the union in its press release.
Negotiating Since January
Negotiations between the union and Samsung Electronics management have been ongoing since January, but no agreement has been reached. Employees rejected a 5.1% wage increase offer in March, with the union also demanding better leave conditions and more transparency regarding performance bonuses.
Samsung Electronics is the flagship of Samsung Group, the most significant "chaebol" (family-owned conglomerates) in South Korea's fourth-largest economy. The company is one of the world's largest smartphone manufacturers and one of the few producers of high-value-added memory chips used in artificial intelligence (AI).
For 50 years, Samsung prevented employees from forming unions, sometimes using brutal methods, according to critics. The conglomerate's founder, Lee Byung-chul, who died in 1987, allegedly vowed never to allow unions in his company. The first union at Samsung Electronics was established only in the late 2010s.
Semiconductors are now central to the global economy, used in everything from household appliances and mobile phones to cars and weapons. Chips are South Korea's main export product, bringing in $11.7 billion in March alone, the highest level in the past two years. This amount represents one-fifth of South Korea's total exports.
