Samsung Electronics' First Ever Union Strike Declaration Since Founding... "Using Annual Leave on the 7th of Next Month" (Comprehensive)

Breakdown in Wage Negotiation Talks the Day Before
"We Will Proceed with Strikes Step by Step"

The largest in-house union at Samsung Electronics, the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union (Jeonsamno), declared a strike on the 29th. This is the first time since the company was established that the Samsung Electronics union has declared a strike.

On the morning of the 29th, a press conference declaring the strike of the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union is being held in front of the Samsung Electronics Seocho Building in Seocho-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the same day, Jeonsamno held a press conference in front of the Samsung Electronics Seocho Building in Seocho-gu, Seoul, stating, "We declare a strike in response to the company's attitude of ignoring workers."

The strike declaration is reportedly due to the breakdown of negotiations the previous day for this year's wage talks. During the previous day's negotiations, both labor and management clashed over the participation of two management committee members. Jeonsamno blamed the company for the strike declaration, saying, "The company came to the negotiations without preparing any agenda."

Currently, Jeonsamno has about 28,000 members, which is approximately 22% of Samsung Electronics' total workforce of about 125,000 employees. If they engage in a large-scale strike, Samsung Electronics, which has tightened its operations by having executives work six days a week to improve performance, is expected to suffer considerable damage. Last year, Samsung Electronics recorded a loss of 14.88 trillion won in its Device Solutions (DS) division, which handles semiconductor business, due to a downturn in the semiconductor market.

Jeonsamno explained that instead of an immediate general strike, they will continue collective actions through methods such as using annual leave. The Jeonsamno executive committee instructed members to take a day off on June 7. Additionally, from that day, they will hold a bus lodging sit-in protest in front of the Seocho Building. Jeonsamno stated, "It can still be seen as a passive strike, but we will proceed step by step," adding, "It could escalate to a general strike, and the strike might fail, but the first strike action itself is meaningful."

Earlier, Samsung Electronics management and Jeonsamno had been negotiating since January but failed to narrow their differences. Subsequently, the union secured the right to dispute through the Central Labor Relations Commission's decision to suspend mediation and a member approval vote.