Samsung Electronics' 5 Unions Secure Right to Strike... 74% of All Union Members Approve
by Moon Chaeseok
Published 08 Apr.2024 15:50(KST)
Disagreement with Management over Average Wage Rate
Gap of 5.1%-6.5% Remains Unclosed
The Samsung Electronics labor union has legally secured the right to strike.
According to the industry on the 8th, five unions participating in Samsung Electronics' 2024 wage and welfare negotiations conducted a strike approval vote among union members from the 18th of last month until the 5th of this month.
Samsung Electronics has five unions, including the largest union by membership, the National Samsung Electronics Labor Union (JeonSamNo), as well as the Office Workers' Union, Gumi Network Union, Donghaeng Union, and DX Union.
As a result of the vote, out of a total of 27,458 union members from unions 1 to 5, 20,853 participated in the vote. Among them, 20,330 union members approved the strike. The overall strike approval rate among all union members was 74%. The approval rate among those who participated in the vote was 97.5%.
Samsung Electronics management and labor held a preliminary meeting in September last year and conducted about ten wage negotiations over five months until February, but the negotiations broke down. After the Central Labor Relations Commission decided to suspend mediation, the unions secured the right to strike.
The strike approval vote occurred because there was a large gap between this year's average wage increase rate of 5.1%, calculated through Samsung Electronics' labor-management council and wage adjustment consultations, and the union's proposed rate of 6.5%.
The unions have been negotiating wages separately with management apart from the labor-management council. After declaring the breakdown of negotiations, they have demanded a 6.5% wage increase and one additional paid holiday, conducting touring protests at each workplace.
The unions that secured the right to strike plan to carry out peaceful strike actions on the 17th at the Samsung Electronics DSR Tower in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province.
Since its founding in 1969, Samsung Electronics has never experienced a strike. Although the unions secured the right to strike after applying for strike mediation following wage negotiation breakdowns in 2022 and last year, they did not proceed with a strike.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.