Workers belonging to the main union, which represents a quarter of the 125,000 employees, are protesting. They are demanding wage increases, but also improvements in vacation and leave. So far, there has been no response from the company, which downplays the impact. Meanwhile, in Seoul there is also a dispute over the minimum wage, which the employers want to maintain despite inflation.
Seoul () – Unprecedented in the 55-year history of the company involved, the strike that has been affecting Samsung Electronics for three days has been extended indefinitely. The action has so far involved some of the more than 30,000 workers registered with the main national union, which unites a quarter of the total 125,000 employees. The protest – which began on Monday with a rally in torrential rain in front of the company’s headquarters in the city of Hwaseong, south of the Seoul metropolitan area – has on its plate demands for salary increases, but also leave, vacations and incentives calibrated according to the company’s accounts. Demands to which, in the face of the silence of the company, has also been added the question of the relations between workers and the company.
So far, the demands have fallen on deaf ears, despite negotiations that have been ongoing for some time. Last month, unionised workers had even taken their annual leave en masse to show their determination after – following the failure of mediation – the National Arbitration Commission itself had given the green light to a referendum among workers on the possibility of going on strike.
In addition to denouncing that “the company’s plan does not consider workers at their equal level and continues to treat them as disposable objects,” the union said it held the company responsible for the strike and the damage it could cause. In any case, the June initiative had shown little effectiveness in harming production; and the company – according to a local news source – would also think the same of the strike now underway.
The Samsung dispute is intertwined with ongoing negotiations to set the national minimum hourly wage for 2025. A decision due to be announced on 5 August, but which currently sees the workers’ and employers’ parties at odds on the Minimum Wage Commission. Workers’ representatives yesterday called for a 13.6% increase to take into account inflation, currently at 2.4%; employers’ representatives, for their part, called for a substantial freeze for the fourth consecutive year, citing the difficult economic environment.
The minimum hourly wage is currently set at 9,680 won (about 6.5 euros). If the union’s demand is accepted, it would rise to 11,200 won (about 7.5 euros).
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