(Seoul) A union representing tens of thousands of workers at South Korean giant Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it would extend a three-day strike “indefinitely” to force management to negotiate.
Samsung Electronics is one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers and one of the few producers of high-value memory cards used for artificial intelligence.
“We are declaring a second indefinite general strike starting July 10, after learning that management was not willing to discuss following the first general strike,” the national union of Samsung Electronics said in a statement.
More than 5,000 workers walked off the job Monday for what was supposed to be a three-day strike after lengthy negotiations over wages and benefits failed.
The move followed a one-day walkout in June, the first such strike at the company, which had been union-free for decades.
Samsung Electronics’ national union has more than 30,000 members, more than a fifth of the company’s total workforce.
Samsung said Tuesday that production had not been disrupted, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported, although the union said the strike had had a significant impact.
PHOTO SOO-HYEON KIM, REUTERS
Striking workers demonstrate outside Samsung Electronics Nano City Hwaseong Campus in Hwaseong, South Korea. The sign reads: “Samsung Electronics employees are not expendable.”
“We have confirmed the clear disruption of production, and management will regret this choice,” the union warned in the statement announcing the unlimited strike.
The longer the strike lasts, the more management will suffer and will eventually kneel and sit at the negotiating table. We are confident of victory.
Samsung Electronics National Union
The union accused Samsung management of “obstructing” the strike, saying it appeared unwilling to engage in dialogue.
“Protect our rights”
“Your determination is needed to advance our goals and our victory. Let us join forces to protect our rights and create a better future,” he insisted, calling on employees to join the movement, especially “those who are still hesitant.”
Samsung said it would comment later.
The union has been negotiating with management since January, but the two sides have failed to reach an agreement.
Workers have rejected an offer of a 5.1% pay rise, while the union is also demanding improved annual leave and transparency on performance-based bonuses.
PHOTO SOO-HYEON KIM, REUTERS
More than 5,000 workers walked off the job Monday for what was supposed to be a three-day strike after lengthy negotiations over wages and benefits failed.
For nearly 50 years, the company has prevented its employees from unionizing, sometimes using violent methods, according to its critics.
The company’s founder, Lee Byung-chul, who died in 1987, was adamantly opposed to unions, saying he would never allow them “until I have dust in my eyes.”
Samsung Electronics’ first union was formed in the late 2010s.
Samsung Electronics is the flagship subsidiary of Samsung Group, the largest of the family-owned conglomerates that dominate Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
It said last week it expected operating profit to rise 15-fold in the second quarter from a year earlier, helped by a rebound in chip prices and increased demand for its products used in artificial intelligence.
Semiconductors are at the heart of today’s global economy, used in everything from household appliances to cell phones to cars to weapons.
These chips are South Korea’s top export, earning the country $11.7 billion in March, the highest in nearly two years. That’s one-fifth of the country’s total exports.