Samsung Electronics Workers’ Union Calls For Strike In South Korea: Report

On Monday, Son Woo-mok, Union leader, said that the union is asking for a more transparent system for determining bonuses and time-off and an equal standing with the firm

However, the impact will be dependent on the number of chip plants operators that take part in the strike. Image source: Samsung

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A workers’ union at Samsung Electronics in South Korea called for a strike in July, media reports said on Tuesday citing a union official. The union plans to hold a strike on July 8 to 10, 2024.

Citing an official, Reuters reported that the union is currently looking into how many workers will be participating in the strike. On Monday, Son Woo-mok, Union leader, said that the union is asking for a more transparent system for determining bonuses and time-off. He added that the union wants the company to treat it on an equal standing.

The report stated that the company refused to share any comment on the strike plan. Notably, union membership in the company surged rapidly after the firm committed to stop discouraging the growth of organised labour in 2020.

The strike itself isn’t expected to impact chip production to a major extent. The report cited analysts and said the majority of the chip output of the company is automated. However, the impact will be dependent on the number of chip plants operators that take part in the strike, the report noted citing Kim Yang-Paeng, senior researcher, the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.

The researcher pointed out that chip production can’t operate with replacement workers if the original operators go on a long strike as the work requires ‘specificity and expertise’. 

Notably, last month, several workers took mass annual leave in protest. Samsung maintained that the action didn’t have any impact on production or business activity. Analysts commented that the workers involved in the strike were majorly employed at inner-city offices and not manufacturing sites.

The report further noted that Samsung didn’t feel any impact of the strike in the stock market as the firm’s shares inched up 0.1 per cent in morning trade.