Samsung Electronics union calls first-ever strike

By AJU PRESS Business Team Posted : May 29, 2024, 16:07 Updated : May 29, 2024, 16:38
Members of the National Samsung Electronics Union chant slogans during a news conference outside the companys headquarters in southern Seoul on May 29 2024   Aju Presss
Members of the National Samsung Electronics Union chant slogans during a news conference outside the company's headquarters in southern Seoul on May 29, 2024. AJU PRESS
SEOUL, May 29 (AJU PRESS) - Unionized workers at Samsung Electronics on Wednesday declared the first-ever strike in the company’s 55-year history. 

The National Samsung Electronics Union, representing 22 percent of employees, announced a one-day walkout on June 7 to press their demand for wage hikes. 

“We declare a strike in the face of management's disregard for workers,” the union said at a news conference after wage negotiations fell apart the previous day.

Union members will collectively take the day off on the day, marking the first-ever strike at the tech giant since its founding in 1969. Samsung had disallowed the organization of labor unions until 2020.

The two sides have conducted wage negotiations since January but failed to narrow differences. The union demanded a 6.5 percent increase while management offered 5.1 percent.

The union accused management of failing to offer a compromise plan during the eighth round of talks on Tuesday.

The planned action could deal a blow to the world’s largest maker of memory chips. Its semiconductor division recorded operating losses of 14.88 trillion won ($10.9 billion) last year.
 
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