The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) launched a three-day general strike on July 8. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jul. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – In an unprecedented move, Samsung Electronics’ largest labor union, the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), launched a three-day general strike on July 8, marking the first time in the company’s history that employees have engaged in a “no work, no pay” strike.
With over 6,500 union members participating, concerns are mounting about potential disruptions to the tech giant’s production capabilities.
The NSEU held a strike rally in front of Samsung’s Hwaseong plant in Gyeonggi Province, announcing that 6,540 members had joined the walkout. Of these, 5,211 workers are from equipment, manufacturing, and development processes, while 4,477 are from semiconductor production lines in Pyeongtaek, Hwaseong, and Giheung.
Lee Hyun-guk, vice chairman of the NSEU, stated, “Production disruptions are inevitable, given the high participation of equipment maintenance and management engineers.”
This strike comes at a critical time for Samsung Electronics, as the memory semiconductor market is showing signs of recovery after a challenging year.
Industry observers worry that the strike could dampen Samsung’s momentum, particularly in its foundry business, where it’s competing with TSMC in 2-nanometer advanced processes, and in the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) sector, where it’s working to close the gap with SK Hynix.
The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) launched a three-day general strike on July 8. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
The striking workers represent about 9.3% of the 70,000 employees in Samsung’s Device Solutions (DS) division, which is responsible for semiconductor operations.
The union’s demands include higher wage increases for 855 members who rejected the company’s initial 5.1% raise, improvements to the Economic Value Added (EVA) based incentive system, fulfillment of paid leave promises, and compensation for economic losses incurred during the strike.
The NSEU has stated its intention to continue the strike until its demands are met, with discussions ongoing about extending the action beyond the initial three days if management does not respond.
Samsung Electronics maintains that production has not been affected so far but acknowledges that prolonged strikes could lead to unavoidable disruptions due to a shortage of replacement workers.
The company’s semiconductor production lines operate 24 hours a day, and any interruption could result in significant losses. A 28-minute power outage at Samsung’s Pyeongtaek plant six years ago reportedly cost the company 50 billion won.
While Samsung plans to deploy replacement workers to prevent production interruptions, industry experts believe some impact is inevitable given the scale of the strike. There are particular concerns about older 8-inch wafer production lines, which have lower automation rates and may be more vulnerable to worker shortages.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
