SOUTH KOREAN SAMSUNG WORKERS BEGIN THREE-DAY GENERAL STRIKE OVER PAY
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According to the head of a union that represents tens of thousands of workers, Samsung employees started a three-day general strike on Monday over wages and benefits. The group warned that the action could have an impact on memory chip production.
Large portions of the world’s output of high-end chips are produced by Samsung Electronics, the largest memory chip manufacturer in the world.
An hour south of Seoul, in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, thousands of workers rallied outside the company’s semiconductor manufacturing and foundry, wearing raincoats and ribbons that said “fight with solidarity.”
Since January, Samsung management and the union have been in negotiations, but the parties have not been able to resolve their concerns over perks and the company’s offered 5.1% salary increase.
“The strike has started from today,” Son Woo-mok, head of the National Samsung Electronics Union, told AFP.
“Today’s general strike is just the beginning,” he added.
“Recalling why we are here, please do not come to work until July 10th and do not receive any business calls,” he told the crowd of workers.
The union said about 5,200 people from factory facilities, manufacturing and development had joined the protest.
“Do they still not think this will affect their production line?” said Lee Hyun-kuk, vice president of the union.
Over 30,000 workers, or more than a fifth of the company’s staff, are members of the union, which declared last week’s three-day general strike a final resort after negotiations went down.
The action comes after a one-day walkout in June, which was the company’s first collective action after decades without unionization.
“We are now at critical crossroads,” the union said in an appeal sent out to members last week, urging them to support the strike.
“This strike is the last card we can use,” it said, saying that workers at the company needed to “act as one”.
“I’m really excited,” one union member and protester told AFP. “We’re making history.”
Workers rejected the offer of a 5.1 percent pay hike in March, with the union having previously outlined demands including improvements to annual leave and transparent performance-based bonuses.
Samsung declined a request for comment.
“While the ongoing strike is only scheduled for three days, the participating members include those working in chip assembly lines,” business professor Kim Dae-jong at Sejong University told AFP.
“Given that the union could carry out additional strikes in case the gridlock continues, it could pose a great risk to Samsung management amid its race for dominance in the competitive chips market.”
Samsung Electronics avoided its employees unionising for almost 50 years — sometimes adopting ferocious tactics, according to critics — while rising to become the world’s largest smartphone and semiconductor manufacturer.
Company founder Lee Byung-chul, who died in 1987, was adamantly opposed to unions, saying he would never allow them “until I have dirt over my eyes”.
The first labour union at Samsung Electronics was formed in the late 2010s.
The firm is the flagship subsidiary of South Korean giant Samsung Group, by far the largest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
It recently predicted a 15-fold increase in its on-year second-quarter operating profits, thanks to growing demand for generative AI.
Semiconductors are the lifeblood of the global economy, used in everything from kitchen appliances and mobile phones to cars and weapons.
And demand for the advanced chips that power artificial intelligence systems has skyrocketed thanks to the success of ChatGPT and other generative AI products.
Semiconductors are South Korea’s leading export and hit $11.7 billion in March, their highest level in almost two years, accounting for a fifth of South Korea’s total exports, according to figures released by the trade ministry.
AFP
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