Samsung employees striking for improved working conditions and higher wages held a significant rally on Monday in South Korea as their protest enters 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 demonstration followed initial wage negotiations that took place last Friday between the union and Samsung.
The NSEU initiated an indefinite strike on July 8 after a previous walkout did not achieve the desired workplace improvements. While the union represents over 30,000 employees, the exact number participating in the indefinite strike remains unclear. Nonetheless, this current strike marks the largest in Samsung’s history.
Despite Samsung projecting a 1,450% increase in second-quarter revenue year-over-year, driven by a surge in AI, and reporting a tenfold profit increase for the first quarter of 2024, the NSEU claims that workers are not seeing corresponding wage increases.
Many of the striking employees are involved in Samsung’s foundry operations, where they produce some of the world’s most sophisticated computer chips.
Experts note that Samsung has a reputation for being unfriendly toward unions and lacks experience in negotiating with its employees. “If Samsung workers succeed in this effort, it will empower the rest of South Korea’s labor,” stated Vladimir Tikhonov, a professor of Korean studies at the University of Oslo.