Strike alert at Samsung: 47,000 employees to walk off the job
In South Korea, more than 47,000 Samsung Electronics employees are preparing for a large-scale strike after failing to reach an agreement on wage increases. The company's stock shares fell by 3 percent following the development.
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The deadlock in collective bargaining negotiations involving hundreds of thousands of employees at Samsung Electronics, one of the world's largest technology companies, has led to preparations for strikes in factories and offices. During the process where wage hikes were being negotiated, the expected consensus between the union and Samsung management could not be reached, and union members announced their decision to go on strike on Thursday, May 21.
The strike, which is planned to be launched with the participation of over 47,000 personnel who make up the company's main workforce and mostly work in South Korea, has raised concerns in industry circles that it could cause disruptions in Samsung's production processes and services. The news of the strike also had an impact on financial markets; Samsung Electronics' shares experienced a loss in value of up to 3 percent following the announcement.
During the negotiation process, a mediation proposal from the South Korean National Labor Relations Commission was brought to the agenda. The union announced that it had accepted the proposal. However, Samsung Electronics management did not approach this mediation offer positively and announced that it had rejected the proposal. Union spokesperson Choi Seung-ho stated that the company had requested additional time, while also noting that management did not subsequently announce a definitive decision.