Yesterday, Samsung unveiled its new generation of foldable smartphones, wearables, and earbuds for 2024 in a sleek event in Pairs. At the same time, in South Korea, the site of the company's global headquarters, employees went on an indefinite general strike to demand better working conditions.
As we've mentioned before, strikes are rare at Samsung. However, the newly unionized workers didn’t hesitate to use their right to strike to fulfill their threats after more than three months of unsuccessful negotiations.
The second strike in two months. This general strike isn’t only the second in two months but also the second in the company’s 55-year-history. The first was a 24-hour strike in June to force company directors to return to the bargaining table. This is unsurprising since, until less than a year ago, Samsung didn’t allow union representation in its workforce.
Since then, the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) has turned into a force at the company. It represents the interests of tens of thousands of Samsung Electronics workers in South Korea and is taking a strong position in its fight with executive leadership.
Wage improvements and narrowing the gap with managers. According to Reuters, the main demand of workers in the strike is wage improvements. Specifically, they're asking for a 3.5% increase in the base salary. The company has offered 3%, but the unions say the remaining 0.5% is essential to counteract the effects of inflation.
Workers also demand an additional vacation day and a fairer bonus system between executives and lower-level workers.
Samsung says it's business-as-usual. As usual, the company wants to convey a sense of normality in this kind of incident. In a statement to Reuters, Samsung said the following: “Samsung Electronics will ensure no disruptions occur in the production lines. The company remains committed to engaging in good faith negotiations with the union.”
In contrast, statements from the NSEU union point in the opposite direction: “We really want to stop the chip production lines,” union vice president Lee Hyun-kuk said in a live YouTube broadcast.
Inside the strike. According to union sources, about 6,500 Samsung workers support the call for an indefinite general strike. The NSEU is calling on the remaining 30,000 union members to join. “It is time for us to have the strength and support of our fellow members,” the union’s vice president declared.
As the company grows, the workers demand to grow with it. The intensification of labor improvement demands within Samsung comes after the presentation of the company’s financial results for the second quarter of the year, where the company stated that it expects a 15-fold increase in profits in the last quarter of the year.
This growth is due to the price hike it's applied to its AI processors. The company’s main argument for not meeting its employees’ demands had been the significant decline in Samsung’s sales of devices and semiconductors in 2023, but its new optimistic provisions change everything.
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