Samsung Electronics' unionized workers threaten strike, call for dialogue

▲ Unionized workers of Samsung Electronics Co. hold a press conference in front of the company's Seocho office building in southern Seoul on May 4, 2023. (Yonhap)

Samsung Electronics-unionized workers

Samsung Electronics' unionized workers threaten strike, call for dialogue

SEOUL, May 4 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co.'s unionized workers threatened Thursday to go on strike as they pressed the management to come to the negotiating table over a wage dispute.

Last month, the management of the South Korean tech giant said it has agreed with a labor-management council to give an average 4.1 percent pay raise this year.

The council is a consultative body comprised of representatives of employers and employees at Samsung Electronics to discuss working conditions, including wages.

The unionized workers, which accounted for around 7.4 percent of the total 121,000 workers, claimed the agreement between the management and the council is invalid as the union is the only body that has the right to bargain collectively.

"Samsung Electronics announced the final agreement without the consent of the union," the union said in a press conference. "We will join hands with other unions to fight to bring the company to the dialogue table and make it accept us."

The National Labor Relations Commission ended its mediation on the case earlier this week, a decision that could pave the way for the union to go on strike.

The tech giant, which was founded in 1969, had been widely criticized for its attempt to prevent workers from forming a labor union until 2010, when its leader Lee Jae-yong vowed to improve Samsung's labor-management relationship.

Currently, there are four labor unions at Samsung Electronics, with its first labor union being created in 2018.

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