Samsung Electronics union officials in South Korea say they will stage the first ever walkout over demands for higher wages.
The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), which has about 28 thousand members, or more than a fifth of the company’s total workforce, said it will stop work for one day on June 7 as part of broader protest measures.
The announcement was made by union officials at a media briefing. Workers have been intermittently participating in protests in recent weeks outside the company’s offices in the capital city Seoul as well as outside its chip production site in Hwaseong, south of Seoul. Responding to a decision by the company to increase wages this year by 5.1 percent, the union has previously said that it wanted an additional day of annual leave as well as transparent performance-based bonuses.
The strike announcement comes as Samsung, one of the world’s biggest chipmakers and smartphone makers, appears to be faltering in some areas, including cutting-edge semiconductor chips.
Source: REUTERS
