Workers at South Korean tech giant Samsung start strike

SEOUL

Members of the National Samsung Electronics Union stage a rally as they begin a three-day general strike outside the company's foundry and semiconductor factory in Hwaseong on July 8, 2024

Workers at South Korean tech giant Samsung began a three day general strike on Monday, the head of a union representing tens of thousands of employees told AFP, after talks with management broke down.

"The strike has started from today," Son Woo-mok, head of the National Samsung Electronics Union, told AFP.

The union, which has around 28,000 members, or more than a fifth of the company's total workforce, announced the three day general strike last week, saying it was a last resort after talks broke down.

The move follows a one-day walkout in June, the first such collective action at the company, which went decades without unionisation.

Management at the firm, the world's biggest producer of memory chips, has been locked in negotiations with the union over wages and benefits since January but the two sides have failed to narrow their differences.

Workers have rejected the offer of a 5.1 percent pay hike, with the union having previously outlined demands including improvements to annual leave and transparent performance-based bonuses.

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

The firm 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.

It is world's largest memory chip maker, and accounts for a significant chunk of global output of the high-end chips.

Samsung recently predicted a 15-fold increase in its on-year second quarter operating profits, thanks to growing demand for generative AI.

Semiconductors are South Korea's leading export and hit $11.7 billion in March, their highest level in almost two years.