Management and the unions have been holding negotiations on salaries since January. The group is one of the rare producers of high value-added memories used for generative artificial intelligence.
A major union at Samsung Electronics called the first strike in the history of the South Korean semiconductor and consumer electronics giant on Wednesday. “We can no longer stand the persecution of unions. We are declaring a strike over the company’s neglect of workers.”the Samsung Electronics National Union said at a press conference. “We tried to resolve the problem through dialogue”, said the union, which represents around 20% of the group’s workforce, or around 28,000 people. He also accused management of“corporate interference in the peaceful struggle we have been waging thus far”.
Samsung Electronics is the flagship of the giant Samsung Group, by far the largest of the family-owned conglomerates that dominate Asia’s fourth-largest economy. Management and the unions have been holding negotiations on salaries since January, without being able to overcome their differences. This strike will be the very first in the history of the group, one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturers and one of the rare producers of high value-added memories used for generative artificial intelligence.
Samsung Electronics increased its operating profit almost tenfold in the first quarter of 2024, thanks precisely to strong sales of these advanced products intended for AI. South Korean chipmakers, led by Samsung, have posted record profits in recent years as the prices of their products soared. The slowdown in the global economy subsequently dealt a blow to semiconductor sales, but these should see a rebound of 11.8% this year, according to the sector observatory World Semiconductor Trade Statistics.
