The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) has announced plans to escalate strike action by staging the first-ever walkout at Samsung Electronics. The union, representing approximately 28,000 members or over a fifth of the company’s workforce, will halt work for a day on June 7 to demand higher wages.
This historic decision was revealed during a live-streamed press conference, where union officials brandished a banner declaring, “We can no longer tolerate labour repression, union repression.” This bold statement underscores the growing frustration among workers at the world’s leading memory chipmaker.
The planned walkout follows a series of intermittent protests in recent weeks. Union members have been demonstrating outside Samsung’s offices in Seoul and its chip production site in Hwaseong, showcasing their discontent with the current wage policies.
The union’s demands include a wage increase beyond the company’s proposed 5.1% rise, an additional day of annual leave, and more transparent performance-based bonuses. These demands highlight a broader push for improved working conditions within the tech giant.
On Wednesday, the union accused Samsung of failing to present a viable compromise during recent negotiations. In response, Samsung Electronics issued a statement asserting its commitment to sincere discussions with the union, although no immediate resolution seems forthcoming.
Union officials have defended their decision to take industrial action despite some underperforming sectors within Samsung. NSEU President Son Woo-mok criticized the company for using financial crises as an excuse to avoid meeting workers’ demands, a claim reflecting deeper discontent within the workforce.
The union’s planned action will impact all Samsung sites across South Korea, amplifying the significance of this strike. As the largest of five labor unions within Samsung, NSEU’s move could set a precedent for future labor actions within the company.
However, not all unions are united in this effort. A coalition of five unions at Samsung affiliates, including another Samsung Electronics union, has questioned the strike’s intentions. They suggested the strike might be an effort to align with a more combative umbrella union rather than genuinely improving workers’ conditions.
This strike comes at a challenging time for Samsung, which has recently faced setbacks in its semiconductor business. Last week, the company replaced the head of its semiconductor unit to better navigate what it termed a “crisis” in the chips industry.
Unionized workers have shown increasing solidarity, as evidenced by a rally in Seoul last week where over 2,000 employees demanded better wages. This surge in union membership follows Samsung Electronics’ 2020 pledge to cease discouraging organized labor, a significant shift in the company’s labor relations approach.
Analysts attribute the rise in union membership to worker frustration over Samsung’s declining competitiveness in sectors like high bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, compounded by ongoing legal issues. Notably, the company is dealing with a prosecution appeal regarding a 2015 merger, a case involving Chairman Jay Y. Lee.
The strike announcement has already impacted Samsung’s stock, with shares closing down 3.1% on Wednesday, in contrast to a 1.7% drop in the benchmark KOSPI. This financial dip reflects the market’s anxiety over the potential implications of the union’s actions on Samsung’s operational stability and future performance.