Samsung workers in South Korea stage first ever strike: Union

Seoul – Workers at technology giant Samsung Electronics in South Korea staged the first-ever strike at the company on June 7, the head of a major union representing tens of thousands of people told AFP.

Samsung Electronics is one of the world’s largest smartphone makers and also one of the few companies globally to produce high-end memory chips used for generative artificial intelligence (AI), including top-of-the-line AI hardware from industry leaders such as Nvidia.

Management at the firm, the world’s biggest producer of memory chips, has been locked in negotiations with the union over wages since January, but the two sides have failed to narrow their differences.

“The first strike at Samsung Electronics is taking place today through the use of paid leave, and it is understood that many employees are participating,” said Mr Son Woo-mok, head of the National Samsung Electronics Union.

“It’s difficult to provide an exact number, but from what I’ve seen of the workplace attendance in the morning, there is a significant difference from the usual,” he added.

The strike in South Korea is the first walkout by the tech giant’s workers.

Around 10 workers held a protest in front of Samsung’s major office in Seoul on June 7, chanting: “Respect labour. We are not wanting a 6.5 per cent raise or a 200 per cent bonus.”

Samsung Electronics 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.

Taiwan-based market research firm TrendForce said that the strike would not impact Dram and Nand flash production, nor will it cause any shipment shortages.

Samsung accounts for a significant chunk of global output of the high-end chips, but the strike involves headquarters employees, not workers on the production lines, TrendForce added.

Additionally, it is only a one-day strike, and falls during a long-planned holiday period in South Korea, meaning the company would already have adjusted anticipated staffing levels.

“Finally, fabs rely heavily on automated production and require minimal human labour. Therefore, the strike will not have any substantial impact on the future memory supply,” TrendForce said in a report.

Historic strike

Even so, the strike carries historical importance, “since Samsung resisted unionisation and engaged in union-busting for so long”, Korean Studies professor Vladimir Tikhonov from the University of Oslo told AFP.

He said the collective action showed that “there is a gradual tendency towards empowerment of labour in South Korea”.

Samsung Electronics avoided unionisation of its employees for almost 50 years – sometimes adopting ferocious tactics, according to critics – while rising to become the world’s largest smartphone and semiconductor manufacturer.

Samsung 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.

In 2020, Mr Lee Jae-yong, the company’s then vice-chairman and the founder’s grandson, apologised to “everyone who has been pained by labour issues at Samsung”, adding that he would “make sure” the company “is not criticised for union-free management”.

Still, the National Samsung Electronics Union, which has around 28,000 members, or more than a fifth of the company’s total workforce, has said the word “strike” has been a “taboo word” at the tech giant.

Semiconductors are the lifeblood of the global economy, used in everything from kitchen appliances and mobile phones to cars and weapons.

They are South Korea’s leading export and hit US$11.74 billion (S$15.7 billion) in March, accounting for a fifth of the country’s total exports, according to trade ministry figures.

Mr Lee Hyun-kook, vice-president of the union, said the strike will not “lead to a disruption in production and we don’t want it to lead to one”.

“We just want Samsung to hear our voice,” he said. AFP