74% of union members voted in favor, Samsung Electronics' first strike imminent
As the semiconductor business began to recover, Samsung Electronics' largest union, which opposed wage negotiations, received overwhelming support in a member vote and gained the right to strike, laying the seeds for Samsung Electronics' first strike in history.
On April 8th, Samsung Electronics National Union, a subsidiary of the Korea Metal Workers Union, the largest union of Samsung Electronics, announced the voting results from March 18th to April 5th to vote in favor or against the strike.
Among the total members (27458) of the five Samsung Electronics unions, including the National Union, 20853 people (75.9%) participated, and 20330 people (97.5%) voted in support of the strike. Among all members, 74% voted in favor. Samsung Electronics National Union supported the strike with over 50% of the votes and obtained the legal right to strike.
Samsung Electronics National Union will not immediately go on strike, but plans to call for employee support through demonstrations in the workplace. Some observers suggest that as the number of members joining the union in response to performance-based pay complaints increases in 2023, strikes may disrupt production. The number of union members of Samsung Electronics accounts for 22% of the total number of employees (124804). Samsung Electronics National Union has obtained the right to strike in 2022 and 2023, but has not held a strike vote. If the union goes on strike this time, it will be the first strike by Samsung Electronics since its 55 year establishment in 1969.
Since the beginning of this year, the union has engaged in nine rounds of tug of war negotiations with Samsung Electronics management regarding salary increases, but their differences have not been resolved. Samsung Electronics has agreed to a 5.1% increase in average wages this year, with a 3.0% increase in basic wages and a 2.1% increase in performance, through negotiations with the Labor Management Agreement. This is an increase of 1.0 percentage points from 4.1% in 2023. This is more than twice the expected consumer price inflation rate of 2.6% this year.
The Labor Management Consultative Conference is an organization in which members representing management and employees participate in negotiating wages and other working conditions. Except for union negotiations, Samsung Electronics sets annual salary increase rates through the board of directors.
Samsung Electronics National Union strongly opposes the salary increase agreement reached with the Labor Management Committee. It adheres to its initial requirements, including a 6.5% salary increase and a 200% special performance pay. The problem is that each subordinate union has a different stance on the strike. The subordinate union leading this strike is "Subordinate Union 4" centered around semiconductors, which has the largest number of union members among the subordinate unions. The second largest subordinate union, Subordinate Union 5, has decided not to hold a strike, with only about one-third (33.6%) of its 6210 members supporting it. The subordinate union 5 is mainly composed of employees in the smartphone business. This means that Samsung's two main departments have taken different paths.
At the same time, since the unprecedented downturn in the semiconductor industry in 2023, Samsung Electronics' performance has been declining, and there has been increasing criticism of unreasonable demands from unions.
However, on April 5th, Samsung Electronics released a performance report, which preliminarily verified that its operating profit in the first quarter of this year increased by 93.1.25% year-on-year, to 6.6 trillion Korean won (approximately 35.46 billion yuan), exceeding last year's full year operating profit (6.57 trillion Korean won); During the same period, sales increased by 11.37% year-on-year to 71 trillion Korean won. This is the first time in five quarters since April 2022 (70.4646 trillion Korean won) that Samsung Electronics' quarterly sales have recovered to over 70 trillion Korean won. Kye hyun Kyung, the head of Samsung's semiconductor business, stated at a previous annual shareholder meeting that with the end of the market downturn, its semiconductor business is expected to recover to 2022 levels this year.
Among the total members (27458) of the five Samsung Electronics unions, including the National Union, 20853 people (75.9%) participated, and 20330 people (97.5%) voted in support of the strike. Among all members, 74% voted in favor. Samsung Electronics National Union supported the strike with over 50% of the votes and obtained the legal right to strike.
Samsung Electronics National Union will not immediately go on strike, but plans to call for employee support through demonstrations in the workplace. Some observers suggest that as the number of members joining the union in response to performance-based pay complaints increases in 2023, strikes may disrupt production. The number of union members of Samsung Electronics accounts for 22% of the total number of employees (124804). Samsung Electronics National Union has obtained the right to strike in 2022 and 2023, but has not held a strike vote. If the union goes on strike this time, it will be the first strike by Samsung Electronics since its 55 year establishment in 1969.
Since the beginning of this year, the union has engaged in nine rounds of tug of war negotiations with Samsung Electronics management regarding salary increases, but their differences have not been resolved. Samsung Electronics has agreed to a 5.1% increase in average wages this year, with a 3.0% increase in basic wages and a 2.1% increase in performance, through negotiations with the Labor Management Agreement. This is an increase of 1.0 percentage points from 4.1% in 2023. This is more than twice the expected consumer price inflation rate of 2.6% this year.
The Labor Management Consultative Conference is an organization in which members representing management and employees participate in negotiating wages and other working conditions. Except for union negotiations, Samsung Electronics sets annual salary increase rates through the board of directors.
Samsung Electronics National Union strongly opposes the salary increase agreement reached with the Labor Management Committee. It adheres to its initial requirements, including a 6.5% salary increase and a 200% special performance pay. The problem is that each subordinate union has a different stance on the strike. The subordinate union leading this strike is "Subordinate Union 4" centered around semiconductors, which has the largest number of union members among the subordinate unions. The second largest subordinate union, Subordinate Union 5, has decided not to hold a strike, with only about one-third (33.6%) of its 6210 members supporting it. The subordinate union 5 is mainly composed of employees in the smartphone business. This means that Samsung's two main departments have taken different paths.
At the same time, since the unprecedented downturn in the semiconductor industry in 2023, Samsung Electronics' performance has been declining, and there has been increasing criticism of unreasonable demands from unions.
However, on April 5th, Samsung Electronics released a performance report, which preliminarily verified that its operating profit in the first quarter of this year increased by 93.1.25% year-on-year, to 6.6 trillion Korean won (approximately 35.46 billion yuan), exceeding last year's full year operating profit (6.57 trillion Korean won); During the same period, sales increased by 11.37% year-on-year to 71 trillion Korean won. This is the first time in five quarters since April 2022 (70.4646 trillion Korean won) that Samsung Electronics' quarterly sales have recovered to over 70 trillion Korean won. Kye hyun Kyung, the head of Samsung's semiconductor business, stated at a previous annual shareholder meeting that with the end of the market downturn, its semiconductor business is expected to recover to 2022 levels this year.