Unionized Samsung Electronics employees will return to work on Monday, 25 days after a full-scale strike began amid dissatisfaction with wages and benefits. This decision was announced by the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), which represents the interests of about 24% of the company’s employees in South Korea. The statement notes that strikes will continue, but now they will not be systematic.
Image Source: Samsung Electronics
«A change in strategy is needed to maintain pressure on management while reducing the financial burden on union members,” an NSEU spokesman said. He also added that due to unsuccessful negotiations with the company’s management, the strikes will continue, and the union itself is adopting a “sustainable” strategy.
Let’s remember that the union is seeking a 5.6% salary increase for employees, while Samsung management is offering other conditions, including a 5.1% pay increase and additional points for use on the company’s internal trading platform. The strike began on July 8 and was the first full-scale strike in Samsung history. Despite intensive negotiations between union representatives and company management, which took place at the end of July, no agreement was reached.
The full-scale strike has raised concerns about possible disruption at Samsung’s chip manufacturing plants, as most of the NSEU union members work in the semiconductor division. However, Samsung previously stated that downtime at its production facilities was avoided.