South Korean Samsung Electronics union launches indefinite strike

Samsung Electronics’ largest union in South Korea announced on Wednesday that it would continue its strike indefinitely, intensifying its campaign against the technology giant for better wages and benefits.

The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), whose approximately 30,000 members make up almost a quarter of the company’s South Korean workforce, said it had decided to extend the strike that began on Monday indefinitely because management had shown no signs of willingness to talk.

The strike was originally scheduled to last three days until Wednesday.

This increases the challenges for the world’s largest memory chip maker, which is struggling to compete with semiconductors for artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

Union officials said 6,500 workers took part in the strike and called on more members to join the strike.

“It is time for us to need the strength and help of our colleagues,” said Lee Hyun-kuk, the union’s vice president, in a live broadcast on YouTube.

“Our real goal is to stop the chip production lines,” he said.

Lee told Reuters that the strike had disrupted production of certain chip lines and caused plants to run slower.

Samsung said the strike did not cause any disruption during the first three days.

“Samsung Electronics will ensure that there are no disruptions on the production lines. The company remains committed to negotiating with the union in good faith,” it said in a statement.

Samsung’s share price closed 0.1 percent higher on Wednesday, while the benchmark KOSPI index was little changed.

To increase participation, the union plans to hold advertising campaigns in the cafeterias of chip factories that produce 8-inch wafers and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which are in high demand for use in AI processors.

Union officials denied media reports of low turnout, telling Reuters that the five-year-old organization had not had enough time to educate its members on labor issues. The union held training sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Officials also said a former union leader at Hyundai Motor – an auto giant that has 60 percent of its workers in South Korea unionized – spoke about the history and experiences of the strikes.

Hyundai and its South Korean union reached a provisional wage agreement this week, possibly avoiding a strike.

Analysts said it would be difficult to verify whether the strike had disrupted Samsung’s production unless the union provided details of the wafers and processes affected.

The union said it had revised its demands, asking for a 3.5 percent increase in basic pay and a day off to commemorate the union’s founding instead of an extra day’s holiday. Lee said management had previously offered a 3 percent increase in basic pay, but the union wanted more to better reflect inflation.

It also demands equality in the bonus system between ordinary workers and managers.

Lee Kyungmook, a professor of business administration at Seoul National University, said the union’s strike was unlikely to gain widespread support among workers because they have little incentive left, as any disruption would have a direct impact on their wages.

“If their company cannot make money because the production lines are idle, the bonus payment will be significantly reduced. Then the strike cannot gain momentum,” Lee said.