South Korea: Workers from Samsung Electronics Co. went on strike holding a rally to demand higher pay. This marks the largest organised labour action in the South Korean company’s 50-year history.
Large portions of the world’s output of high-end chips are produced by Samsung Electronics, the largest memory chip manufacturer in the world.
Thousands of workers gathered outside the company’s semiconductor production and foundry in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, an hour south of Seoul, wearing raincoats and ribbons that said “fight with solidarity”.
Since January, Samsung management and the union have been unable to resolve their differences over benefits, and the company has rejected an offer of a 5.1 percent pay increase.
The union reported that 5,200 members of the manufacturing, development, and factory facilities had participated in the demonstration.
Over 30,000 workers, or more than a fifth of the company’s staff, are members of the union, which declared last week’s three-day general strike as a final resort after negotiations went down.
The action comes after a one-day walkout in June that was the company’s first collective action after decades without unionization.
Employees turned down a 5.1 percent salary increase in March; the union had previously listed demands for increased annual leave and openness in performance-based bonuses.
Samsung Electronics, the largest smartphone and semiconductor manufacturer in the world, delayed employee unionization for nearly 50 years, often using harsh measures, according to critics.
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