SEOUL, July 8 (AJU PRESS) – The largest union at Samsung Electronics began a three-day strike on Monday, demanding higher wages and improved bonus systems.
The strike is led by the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union (NSELU), which represents around 24 percent of Samsung’s 125,000 employees.
About 5,000 members are expected to join the strike, the group said, citing a survey of more than 8,000 members.
The union opened the strike with a rally at 11 a.m. in front of the company’s plant in Hwaseong, south of Seoul.
The union’s demands include higher wages for all members, the fulfillment of promises regarding paid holidays, improvements to the profit-sharing system (OPI) and compensation for wage losses as a result of the strike.
The union announced that it would hold a second five-day strike starting next Monday if its demands were not met.
The NSELU, which has almost 30,000 members, called the strike last Monday after negotiations with the company management failed. The two sides have been in wage negotiations since January.
While NSELU aims to disrupt production, industry observers say major setbacks are unlikely.
This strike follows the union’s collective holiday on June 7, the first industrial action in the tech giant’s 55-year history that did not result in any significant production disruptions.
