'Real Strike' Looms as Samsung Union Grows More Hardline... How the 2024 Strike Process Compares

Only 5,000 Joined the 2024 Strike
Majority Union Now Secured, Taking a Harder Line
Booming Semiconductor Market Raises Fears of Production Disruptions
"If We Give In, It's Over"—Labor-Management Conflict at Its Peak

The general strike announced by the Samsung Electronics labor union is now just three days away. Industry insiders note that the atmosphere is markedly different from the first strike in 2024. At that time, the strike was largely symbolic, with a strong emphasis on using annual leave as a form of protest. This time, however, the now-majority and more hardline union is leading the strike, raising concerns that the aftermath could be much more severe. Both inside and outside the company, a sense of crisis is spreading, with growing calls to prevent the strike at all costs, as many believe, "This time, it's truly different."

Union Members Turn Away from Hardline Stance... 4,000 Leave in One Month

The Samsung Electronics union began taking collective action in earnest starting in 2024. On May 29 of that year, the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union (NSELU)—the largest union within the company—declared the first strike in the company's history, citing failed wage negotiations. The move toward a strike at Samsung Electronics, which had maintained a union-free management policy for over 50 years since its founding, was driven by a rapid increase in union membership around 2023. At the time of the strike, about 25% of Samsung Electronics' 125,000 employees had joined the union.

However, in reality, only around 5,000 members participated in the strike, accounting for just 15% of the union's total membership. NSELU was mainly composed of members from the Device Solutions (DS) division, which handles semiconductors, and although it was the largest union within the company, it did not yet represent a majority. There were repeated criticisms that a single union leading the strike lacked sufficient justification to represent all employees.

This year, the level of the union's struggle is seen as reaching a dangerous extreme. Amid escalating labor-management conflict, according to industry sources on the 18th, in the internal Telegram chat room of the Samsung Super-Enterprise Union leadership, an executive was reported to have made heated remarks targeting the company, such as, "It's right for us to just get rid of Samsung Electronics," and "We'll show them how truly angry we are." Such comments, which appear to deny the very existence of the company, have drawn criticism that the union has abandoned its original purpose of negotiation and become solely focused on militant struggle.

There are also concerns within and outside the union that the leadership is prioritizing displays of force and power over dialogue and negotiation. With repeated instances of the company being pressured through strong statements and group action rather than setting up a reasonable bargaining table, critics say labor-management relations are being driven toward a deadlock.

As the union leadership has taken a more radical approach, ordinary members are turning away. Previously, the Donghaeng Union, composed mainly of Device eXperience (DX) division members, withdrew from the joint struggle committee. In addition, over the past month, about 4,000 members have left the Super-Enterprise Union en masse. As more union members grew uneasy about the hardline stance and began to leave, the union has ultimately failed to move beyond its DS division-centered limitations.

'From Symbolic Protest to a Real Strike'

On the morning of July 22, 2024, members of the Samsung Electronics Union nationwide are holding a rally for the victory of the general strike at the Semicon Sporex on Samsung Electronics Giheung Campus in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News.

The 2024 strike was highly symbolic, being the first in the company's history, and mainly took the form of using annual leave or holding mass rallies on specific days. As concerns over wage losses grew, union members gradually withdrew, and the strike ended after 25 days.

This time, however, the union has directly raised the possibility of disruptions in semiconductor production, ramping up the pressure. Union officials claim that if production line operations are interrupted, losses could reach 1 trillion won per day. This has been criticized as holding the company hostage. The recent passage of the "Yellow Envelope Law" (Amendments to the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act), which has reduced the union's liability for damages, is also cited as a factor fueling the more militant approach.

'Semiconductor Supercycle' Arrives... Growing Concerns Over Fallout

There are also significant concerns about the timing of the strike. In 2024, the semiconductor industry was just emerging from a downturn, so the actual impact of the strike was limited. In contrast, the current environment is described as a "semiconductor supercycle" due to surging AI server demand and supply shortages. Samsung Electronics posted its highest-ever quarterly results in the first quarter of this year and is enjoying a boom period. Even with 24-hour factory operations, it is difficult to keep up with orders from global big tech companies, and any bottleneck in advanced manufacturing lines could have serious consequences. According to business circles and foreign media analyses, if the strike goes ahead, direct and indirect losses—including production disruptions, declining external credibility, and customer defections—could reach several tens of trillions of won.

Hwang Yong-sik, a professor of business administration at Sejong University, commented, "Unlike previous strikes, the current semiconductor market conditions have turned the Samsung Electronics union strike into a national issue, making it much larger in scale. Since these problems have been accumulating for years, the key question is how much management is willing to accept."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.