South Korea: Samsung workers stage first strike

On June 7, Samsung workers in South Korea began their first strike, organized by the Nationwide Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU). This historic event involved around 28,000 union members, representing about a fifth of Samsung’s workforce in South Korea.

The attack targeted Samsung’s chip division, which produces a number of key components such as RAM, NAND flash chips, USB sticks, SD cards, Exynos processors, camera sensors, modems, NFC chips and power/display controllers.

The action highlighted deep-rooted problems related to unionization at Samsung and marked a significant shift in the company’s labor dynamics. Throughout the strike, union members hung visible posters on the doors of Samsung factories outlining their grievances and demands.

Lee Hyun-kuk, vice president of the NSEU, called the action “largely symbolic, but it is a start.” He stressed that the union has contingency plans for further strikes if management does not act. Lee further stated that the possibility of a general strike remains, underscoring the union’s determination to push through its demands.

The union is pushing for a 6.5 percent pay increase (as opposed to the 5.1 percent increase proposed by the company), as well as an additional day of vacation and a more transparent calculation of bonuses. Bonuses are particularly important because they make up a significant part of employees’ salaries.

In 2023, the method of calculating bonuses, which takes into account both operating profit and the cost of capital, resulted in no bonuses being paid to workers. The union argues that bonuses should be based solely on operating profit. Samsung’s chip division reported a profit of $1.4 billion in the first quarter of this year.

The Samsung Group has consistently resisted unionization efforts, resulting in policies that include low wages, minimal benefits, and longer working hours. In December 2013, the Korean Metal Workers’ Union (KMWU), supported by the IndustriALL Global Union, exposed widespread violations of workers’ rights at Samsung. These violations included reports of kidnappings and physical violence against union leaders, as well as targeted management training programs designed to prevent union formation.

Samsung’s global reputation in the IT sector is also tarnished by its demanding working conditions, which are characterized by long working hours and precarious employment relationships.

The company actively discourages its workers from joining unions and pressures unionized workers in precarious employment to leave their representation. These tactics include lower wages for union members and intensive surveillance of them, raising significant ethical concerns about Samsung’s treatment of its workers in the technology industry.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has a hierarchically structured workforce that exhibits significant inequalities. At the top are highly paid professionals and research and development personnel who are critical to innovation and product development. At the middle level are skilled workers and production workers in Samsung’s factories around the world, including factories in South Korea. They are essential to production but often have to cope with difficult conditions. At the bottom of the labor hierarchy at Samsung are workers employed by contract and subcontractors. Samsung disclaims any responsibility for this group, even though they play a critical role in the company’s operations.

The intense work culture at Samsung was evident during the patent trial between Samsung and Apple in 2012, which exposed the harsh working conditions for employees in research and development. Chief designer Wang Jee-yuen’s testimony vividly described the demanding nature of the work, including long working hours that impacted personal well-being and family life.

Women make up a significant portion of Samsung’s skilled workforce and are often recruited from smaller towns to work in its semiconductor labs. They endure long shifts, changing work schedules, and exposure to hazardous substances.

Samsung is not the only company that exploits its workers. One study shows that iPhone workers today are exploited 25 times more than textile workers in 19th century England. The exploitation rate for iPhone workers is incredibly high at 2458%. This means that workers spend most of their day producing goods that make the company richer, while only a tiny portion of their workday goes towards their wages.

Amazon, a major employer in the United States, is notorious for its difficult working conditions. Employees in Amazon’s warehouses face physical stress, workplace accidents, and mental health problems on a daily basis. The company uses advanced surveillance systems to closely monitor employee activities. Although Amazon claims these measures increase safety, employees often feel pressured to work at an excessively fast pace in order to meet productivity standards.

In addition, Amazon has actively fought its workforce’s unionization efforts. In 2021, the company spent $4.2 million on consultants to discourage workers from joining unions. However, on April 1, 2022, workers made a significant breakthrough with the formation of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), the first union at an Amazon facility in the U.S. This success came after a year-long battle against Amazon’s aggressive anti-union tactics and received support from dedicated workers and organizers at the Staten Island warehouse.

In 2011, workers at Maruti Suzuki’s Manesar IMT plant in India applied for registration of a new union, the Maruti Suzuki Employees Union (MSEU), in Chandigarh. When management learned of this initiative, it allegedly pressured the workers to sign documents pledging not to join the MSEU. In response, on 4 June 2011, 3,000 workers at the Manesar plant launched a sit-in strike demanding recognition of the MSEU. To further increase pressure on the workers, on 6 June that year, management fired 11 employees, including MSEU officials, accusing them of instigating the strike. Over time, Maruti Suzuki changed its human resource strategy by increasing the number of contract workers in precarious conditions while retaining a smaller core of permanent employees.

These labour movements are an expression of the ongoing global struggle of workers against exploitation by powerful corporations. They underscore the challenges and unfair treatment faced by workers and stress the need for systemic reform to ensure fair treatment and equitable distribution of the benefits of their labour.

(This article was created by Globetrotter. Pranjal Pandey is a Delhi-based journalist and editor.)

Addendum: Workers at Samsung Electronics in South Korea will begin a three-day strike on July 8.