Samsung workers in South Korea stage first ever strike

SEOUL

Workers at tech giant Samsung Electronics in South Korea staged the first strike at the company on June 7, the head of a major union representing tens of thousands of people told AFP.

Samsung Electronics is one of the world's largest smartphone makers and also one of the only companies globally to produce high-end memory chips used for generative AI.

Management at the firm has been locked in negotiations with the union over wages since January but the two sides have failed to narrow their differences.

Samsung Electronics said it has been "diligently engaging in negotiations with the union and will continue to do so."

"There is no impact on production and business activities,” the company said in a statement.

Samsung Electronics is the flagship subsidiary of South Korean giant Samsung Group, by far the largest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

But the strike involves headquarters employees, not workers on the production lines.

Additionally, it is only a one-day strike, and falls during a long-planned holiday period in South Korea, meaning the company would likely already have adjusted anticipated staffing levels.

Samsung Electronics avoided the unionisation of its employees for almost 50 years -- sometimes adopting ferocious tactics, according to critics -- while rising to become the world's largest smartphone and semiconductor manufacturer.

Samsung founder Lee Byung-chul, who died in 1987, was adamantly opposed to unions, saying he would never allow them "until I have dirt over my eyes."

The first labour union at Samsung Electronics was formed in the late 2010s.