Biz: Samsung Electronics Workers' First All-Out Strike: 6,500 Participants
8 July, 2024
Samsung Electronics Workers' Union strikes from 8th to 10th... Company claims "no production disruption"
The National Samsung Electronics Workers' Union, led by Chairman Son Woo-mok, kicked off a three-day all-out strike on the 8th. Just a month ago, they pulled a one-day strike on July 7th by using their collective annual leave. This is the first time in Samsung Electronics' history, a company that has prided itself on a union-free management policy for over 50 years, that the union has staged a full-scale strike.
4,000 Brave Gathered under the Downpour
"Semiconductor Production Disruption Unavoidable"
On the morning of the 8th, in front of the main gate of Samsung Electronics' Hwaseong campus, the union held a resolution rally announcing that 6,540 members were participating in the strike. That's 21.3% of their total 36,657 members. Samsung Electronics employs over 125,000 workers, in case you were wondering.
The breakdown? The union reports 5,211 workers from facilities, manufacturing, and development, and 4,477 workers from the Pyeongtaek, Hwaseong, and Giheung plants, where semiconductors are made. Lee Hyun-guk, the union's vice chairman, stated, "No matter how automated the process, we need people to maintain and manage the facilities. In semiconductor production, if one point fails, you can't proceed to the next step, making production disruption inevitable." Meanwhile, a Samsung Electronics official countered with, "There's no production disruption as far as we know."
Despite heavy rain and storm warnings in Hwaseong, about 4,000 union members gathered, donned in black union T-shirts, raincoats, and red headbands inscribed with "general strike." Their chants echoed, "Respect workers to make Samsung No.1" and "Make the opaque compensation system transparent."
Desperation in the Air
"There may be negative views from inside and outside, but we stand here with a sense of desperation that it's now or never," said Son Woo-mok, the union chairman, during his impassioned speech. "For over a decade, the company has stressed crises to cut employee welfare and ignore justified wage increases," he continued. The union is demanding fair and reasonable wage increases for 2023-2024 and reforms for equitable performance bonuses.
A rookie member who joined the union in January and works in the equipment group shared at the rally, "I wondered if it would help for new employees like me to participate, thinking others could cover for me. But I wanted to show that every person counts in this strike. I also wanted to encourage new employees who haven't joined the union yet."
Strike May Go On Indefinitely
Issues like fair performance bonuses remain unresolved.
The union is determined to strike until their demands are met. They initially planned to strike until the 10th and then resume next week, but now they're talking about an indefinite extension. "It's up to the company whether we extend the strike," Son stated, hinting that the strike could continue beyond the 10th. The union plans to conduct training for striking members on the 9th and 10th.
Previous talks between Samsung's labor union and management, held three times last month on the 18th and 27th, ended in deadlock. The company offered an additional proposal that included 500,000 won in leisure points, but the union rejected it. On the 1st, the union declared, "We will engage in a general strike without pay and without labor until our demands are met." Their demands include: higher wage increases for all members, including the 855 who rejected the basic wage increase for 2024; transparency in the opaque OPI system based on Economic Value Added (EVA); fulfillment of the promise of paid leave; and compensation for economic losses incurred during the strike.