Samsung employees advocating for improved working conditions and increased wages held a significant rally in South Korea on Monday, as their strike action continues into its third week.
Approximately 1,200 members of the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) gathered and marched at the Giheung campus in Yongin, according to reports. This rally followed initial wage negotiation talks between the union and Samsung that took place last Friday.
The NSEU, which represents over 30,000 employees, declared an indefinite strike on July 8 after a prior walkout did not yield the desired workplace improvements. While the exact number of those participating in the indefinite strike is unclear, this current strike marks the largest in the company’s history.
Despite Samsung’s expectations of a more than 1,450% increase in second-quarter revenue year-over-year, spurred by an AI industry boom, as well as a tenfold rise in profits during the first quarter of 2024, the NSEU claims that workers have not seen corresponding wage increases.
A significant number of striking workers are employed at Samsung’s foundry, which manufactures some of the world’s most sophisticated computer chips. Additionally, experts note that Samsung has a reputation for being unsupportive of unions and has limited experience in negotiating with its workforce.
If the workers at Samsung achieve their goals, it could serve as a motivating example for labor movements throughout South Korea, according to Vladimir Tikhonov, a professor of Korean studies at the University of Oslo.