Employees at Samsung are currently on strike for improved working conditions and higher wages, having recently staged a significant rally in South Korea, marking the third week of their protest.
Approximately 1,200 members of the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) gathered and marched through the Giheung campus located in Yongin, South Korea, as reported.
The demonstration followed recent preliminary wage negotiations between the union and Samsung that took place on Friday.
The NSEU initiated an indefinite strike on July 8 after an earlier walkout did not achieve the desired workplace improvements. While the union represents over 30,000 workers, the exact number participating in this ongoing strike is unclear. Nonetheless, this action is recorded as the largest strike in Samsung’s history.
Despite Samsung’s forecast indicating a staggering increase in second-quarter revenue—projected to rise more than 1,450% year-over-year largely due to advancements in AI—the NSEU claims that workers have not seen a corresponding increase in their paychecks, despite the company’s impressive financial results, which included a ten-fold rise in profits for the first quarter of 2024.
Many strikers are employed at Samsung’s foundry, where they produce some of the world’s most sophisticated computer chips.
Experts note that Samsung has a reputation for being resistant to labor unions and lacks experience in negotiating with its workforce.
A professor of Korean studies at the University of Oslo, Vladimir Tikhonov, stated that if the Samsung employees are victorious in their efforts, it could bolster the labor movement across South Korea.