Samsung union announces strike after talks fail

SEOUL

A union representing tens of thousands of workers at South Korean technology giant Samsung Electronics told AFP on Tuesday it would hold a three-day strike later this month after negotiations failed.

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“We will hold a three-day general strike starting July 8,” said Lee Hyun-kuk, vice president of the National Samsung Electronics Union.

The move followed a one-day strike in June, the first collective action of its kind at the company, which had not organized a union for decades.

The management of the world’s largest manufacturer of memory chips has been in negotiations with the union since January.

Workers rejected the offer of a 5.1 percent pay rise after the union had previously made demands such as improved annual leave and transparent, performance-related bonuses.

The union called for a strike, saying that “management had created this situation” by failing to make any significant concessions.

“What will change if we do not act? Will you just sit back and do nothing? Will you be a hidden slave or an active owner? Nothing will change if we do not act,” the statement said.

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“All workers must take part in the strike. Let’s stand up and change something!”

Samsung Electronics prevented its employees from unionizing for nearly 50 years, using what critics say were brutal methods in some cases, as the company grew to become the world’s largest smartphone and semiconductor manufacturer.

The company’s founder, Lee Byung-chul, who died in 1987, was a staunch opponent of unions and declared that he would never allow them “until I see dirt in front of my eyes”.

The first union at Samsung Electronics was founded in the late 2010s.