Samsung's 28,000-member labor union launches first strike in company history, demanding higher wages and better working conditions
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Samsung's labor union has announced that it will strike over wage increases on Friday, June 7, 2024. This is the first time in the 55-year history of Samsung's founding that the labor union has gone on strike.
Samsung Labor Union Goes on First-Ever Strike Over Pay Dispute - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-07/samsung-union-goes-on-first-ever-strike-over-pay-dispute
Samsung Electronics' union sets stage for first walkout on Friday | Reuters
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/samsung-electronics-union-set-stage-first-walkout-friday-2024-06-06/
Samsung Workers Strike, the First in the Company's History - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/06/business/samsung-first-strike-chips.html
In South Korea, June 6, 2024, is a national holiday , making it a long weekend.
The National Labor Union, the largest of Samsung's five unions with about 28,400 members, has called for a day off on June 7, a weekday between the holidays, with employees planning to return to normal work on Monday.
Participation is voluntary and considered a voluntary activity, and there is no obligation to report to the union whether or not employees have actually taken time off. Also, since some employees had already taken June 7 as a day off to continue their consecutive holidays, the scale and impact of the strike is unclear.
According to TrendForce, a semiconductor market research firm, the strike involves more workers at Samsung's headquarters in Seoul than workers directly involved in production.
Samsung also said, 'As our production system is highly automated, we do not expect the strike to disrupt production.'
Meanwhile, Lee Hyung-guk, deputy secretary-general of the National Trade Union, which represents one-fifth of all employees, said, 'This is a soft start, a symbolic move. But if management refuses to communicate, we have plans for further strikes. We don't rule out the possibility of a full-scale general strike,' indicating that the strike is a prelude to a larger labor dispute.
The Samsung strike is one of the largest of its kind at a South Korean technology company, but it has been mildly planned - encouraging workers to take time off in unison and with no rallies planned - and is in stark contrast to labor disputes in South Korea's manufacturing sector, which are known to often erupt into violent clashes and bloodshed.
For example, in 2009, workers at the South Korean car manufacturer KG Mobility went on strike, occupying the factory for several months. When police tried to quell the protests with tear gas and water cannons , workers retaliated with iron pipes and Molotov cocktails.
In 2011, Lee Kyung-hoon, chairman of Hyundai Motors' labor union, suddenly pulled out a machete while speaking at a rally leading up to collective bargaining, and cut off the little finger on his left hand, saying he was 'swearing to all union members with this cut-off finger.'
The strike by Samsung's labor union came after negotiations over higher bonuses hit a deadlock.
Samsung's labor union, which has about 28,000 members, plans its first-ever strike on June 7, 2024 after wage negotiations stalled - GIGAZINE
Union membership at Samsung has continued to grow since the company promised in 2020 to end practices that hinder union expansion, but a coalition of four smaller unions in addition to the national union has said it will not cooperate, leaving the fate of the first-ever strike at South Korea's largest company unclear.
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