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(Photo= Yonhap news) |
[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Minyoung] The largest labor union at Samsung Electronics, the National Samsung Electronics Union, will commence a general strike on the 8th of this month. This marks the first strike in the company's history since its founding in 1969.
In a YouTube live broadcast, Son Woo-mok, chairman of the National Samsung Electronics Union, stated, "We will fight with a no-work, no-pay general strike until our demands are met, based on the accumulated wrongdoings of the management and the union's legitimate right to dispute."
The union plans to initiate the first phase of the general strike from the 8th to the 10th, during which union members will stop working for three days. Since last year, the union and management have held dozens of wage negotiations. After the main negotiations broke down in May, the union declared a strike, having obtained the right to dispute, but did not actually initiate the strike, opting instead for a one-day leave protest last month.
In the meantime, there have been three post-adjustment meetings under the mediation of the Central Labor Relations Commission last month. During the third post-adjustment meeting on the 27th, the management proposed several measures, including refraining from announcing wage adjustments for non-union members before the final wage agreement, providing a one-time leisure point (500,000 KRW), reducing the mandatory vacation days by two (with compensation for unused two-day recharge vacations), and mutual cooperation efforts between labor and management.
Earlier that day, during final negotiations with management negotiators, the union demanded additional benefits such as wage increases for members who did not sign the 2024 annual salary agreement, and expanded vacation days under the condition of merging the 2023 and 2024 negotiations. They also held their first meeting with Jeon Young-hyun, the new head of the Device Solutions (DS) division.
However, as no agreement was reached, the union decided to proceed with the general strike. Following the first phase of the strike, the union has also announced a second phase of the general strike for the following week, lasting five days.
AlphaBIZ Kim Minyoung(kimmy@alphabiz.co.kr)
