Historic indefinite strike by Samsung workers in South Korea

  • The company has justified reductions in wage compensation and the freezing of wages by a ‘crisis situation’, despite having declared that its operating profits for the second quarter would increase more than expected.

  • Women workers at the semiconductor plant, beyond the wage increase, are demanding that the company not treat them “like machines”.

Samsung Electronics’ largest union, the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), has launched an indefinite strike after failed negotiations over pay and working conditions at the company, the first in the company’s history.

Negotiations began in January 2024, but Samsung has not agreed to the union’s demands, and the company’s proposed measures have been received as a lack of recognition and appreciation for the workers.

Union President Son Woo-mok told the media that for ten years, the company has justified reductions in salary compensations, wage freezes, among others, due to a ‘crisis situation.’ Nevertheless, the company leads global smartphone sales ahead of Apple and is the main producer of memory chips for data storage in electronic devices; it is also a leader in manufacturing logic chips for computers. Last week, Samsung announced that its second-quarter operating profits, $7.5 billion, would increase more than anticipated. The company’s shares have recently recorded a series of multi-year highs as demand for chips for artificial intelligence applications has soared.

The union is demanding wage increases, improvements to the performance-based compensation system (productivity bonuses), and the restoration of reduced benefits to their original state.

The lack of agreements between the union and the company led to a one-day strike on June 7, which some union members joined. After subsequent negotiations were also unsuccessful, Woo-mok declared a three-day strike last Monday, July 8, which was joined by 6,540 workers, of whom the union said many belonged to the semiconductor area. Samsung employs about 125,000 workers in South Korea, so the participation in the strike represented 5% of the national workforce. On Tuesday, not receiving any response or movement from the company regarding the strike, the union announced that the strike would be indefinite.

The National Samsung Electronics Union currently has a total of 30,657 members. Membership has been increasing since the union’s creation in 2019. When in 2023 many workers did not receive any bonuses, membership increased significantly and continues to do so amidst the negotiations.

According to the union, the strike has delayed some of Samsung’s operations and production. However, the company has expressed the opposite: a Samsung representative said that the strike has not affected production and that efforts would be made to avoid future disruptions. The company has told the media that it remains committed to negotiating with the union. Nonetheless, Samsung is not listening to the workers’ demands and is relying on continuing to make profits without them by using Artificial Intelligence (AI) while the strike lasts.


The Demands of Women Workers: “Not to Be Treated Like Machines”

According to the Federation of Korean Metalworkers’ Trade Unions (FKMTU), the total number of Samsung Electronics workers in Korea is approximately 124,400, of which 74% are men and 26% are women. However, on the production line at the Giheung plant, 80% of the workers are women who mainly do manual labor. Many of them have also joined the strike. Particularly, the workers at the semiconductor plant, who suffer various health issues due to the job, such as finger deformities, varicose veins, plantar fasciitis, or herniated discs, are exposed to several health and safety hazards at work, including hazardous chemicals, physical and biological agents (such as radiation and bacteria), and situations that pose reproductive health risks. They face serious occupational health problems, such as cancer, reproductive toxicity, and incurable diseases. There have also been deaths due to carbon dioxide leaks.

Unfortunately, they do not have adequate personal protective equipment to minimize exposure to these hazards. Additionally, women are not allowed menstrual leave, annual vacations, or appropriate meal breaks. For these women, a salary increase and more days off are not their main concern; they have stated to the media that what they want is not to be treated as disposable parts or machines. Despite these statements, Samsung Electronics told the media outlet that interviewed these workers that the company follows the safety standards set by the occupational health and safety law, which does not align with the workers’ situation. They have also stated that there is underemployment and there are always not enough hands; sick leaves are not covered with more personnel nor are the breaks. Additionally, long working hours and shift rotations add to the burden.


The First Strike in the Company’s 55-Year History

Support for the strike has been expressed by organizations such as IndustriALL and GSBI. The strike has gained significant international attention and has been covered by major media outlets such as the New York Times and ABC News.

This is the first strike in the company’s 55-year history. The founder, Lee Byung-chul, was against unions and did not allow the creation of any until his death in 1987. After the creation of the NSEU in 2019, Lee Jae-yong, the company’s vice president and the founder’s grandson, announced that he would stop hindering workers’ attempts to establish a union. Several labor activists and civil society organizations have denounced the company’s anti-union practices and the verbal and physical harassment of union leaders.

This is not an isolated case; union repression is one of the most common issues in the manufacturing industry. Companies like Amazon and Apple are also known for their anti-union practices. Additionally, in many of the countries where electronics factories are located, mostly in Asia, the right to unionization is not guaranteed, and in some cases, it is persecuted by the state itself, as is the case in the Philippines.

On the other hand, labor strikes in South Korea are not uncommon. Since February, more than 10,000 doctors have walked off the job in protest of the government’s plans to increase the number of medical students admitted. Last spring, thousands of construction workers protested their discontent with the country’s labor policy.

At SETEM, we want to express our solidarity with the members of the National Samsung Electronics Union! We support the labor strike as we believe this will increase their collective bargaining power and influence against Samsung, despite the administration’s denial that production will be disrupted. We urge other workers in the Asia Pacific and the rest of the world to express their solidarity with the National Samsung Electronics Union and other workers who fight against labor injustices.

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