(Seoul) Employees of South Korean giant Samsung Electronics went on strike for the first time in their history on Friday, the head of a union representing tens of thousands of people told AFP.
Samsung Electronics is one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers and one of the few producers of high-value memory cards used for generative artificial intelligence (AI).
Management has been negotiating wages with the union since January, but the two sides have not reached an agreement.
Friday’s industrial action is “largely symbolic, but it’s a start,” said Lee Hyun-kuk, vice president of Samsung Electronics’ national union.
“We are planning further strikes if management is not willing to communicate openly with us,” Mr. Lee added when interviewed by AFP, adding that a general strike is not total.
The head of this union, Son Woo-mok, claimed that the “first strike at Samsung Electronics” was taking place “using paid leave, and […] many employees participate in it.”
“It is difficult to provide an exact number, but from what I have observed […]there is a significant difference from usual,” he added.
PHOTO ANTHONY WALLACE, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
The strike is the first walkout in South Korea by employees of the company, which said it was “diligently engaged in negotiations with the union” and would “continue to be.”
“There is no impact on production and commercial activities. The rate of use of paid leave on June 7 is lower than that of June 5 last year,” which, like Friday, was between a public holiday and a weekend, she said in a press release.
“No impact”
“Respect the work! », chanted around ten employees who demonstrated Friday morning in front of Samsung’s main office, south of Seoul.
The company offered employees a 5.1% pay increase this year.
The union told AFP on Friday that it was “ready to positively consider” the offer if Samsung also offered an additional day of annual leave and transparent performance-based bonuses.
Samsung Electronics is the flagship subsidiary of the giant Samsung Group, by far the largest of the family empires in South Korea, Asia’s fourth largest economy.
Taiwan-based market research firm TrendForce said the strike would not impact the production of memory chips – DRAM and NAND Flash, and that there would be no shortages.
Samsung accounts for a significant share of global high-end chip production, but the strike involves headquarters employees, not those working on production lines, according to TrendForce.
“Finally, the production of electronic chips is highly automated and requires minimal labor. Therefore, the strike will not have a significant impact on the future supply of memory chips,” TrendForce estimated.
This movement is, however, historic, “since Samsung has resisted unionization and has been engaged in anti-union actions for a very long time,” Vladimir Tikhonov, professor of Korean studies at the University of Oslo, told AFP.
“Taboo word”
According to him, this action shows that there is a trend towards worker emancipation in South Korea.
For nearly 50 years, Samsung Electronics worked to avoid unionizing its employees, sometimes with violent methods, according to critics.
Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul, who died in 1987, was adamantly opposed to unions, going so far as to say he would never allow them during his lifetime.
Samsung Electronics’ first union was formed in the late 2010s.
In 2020, Lee Jae-yong, then vice chairman of Samsung Electronics and grandson of the founder, apologized to “all those who suffered from the labor problems at Samsung”, pledging to ensure so that the company “is not criticized for its “management without a union””.
The national Samsung Electronics union, which has around 28,000 members, more than a fifth of the company’s total workforce, says the word “strike” is a “taboo word” within the giant.
“We constantly ask the company to respect labor issues, stop oppressing unions and avoid making unilateral decisions on issues so closely related to workers,” the official told AFP. of the union, Mr. Son.
Semiconductors, present in household appliances as well as in mobile phones or cars and weapons, are the engine of the world economy.
The union’s vice president said the movement is not intended to disrupt production, “we just want Samsung to hear our voice.”