Samsung, the South Korean tech giant, reportedly said that the three-day general strike started on Monday has not negatively affected chip production. "There has been no disruption to production," a South Korean local media quoted as per the AFP report.
Three-day strike in which more than 5,000 workers of the global tech giant are protesting is first in the company's history. Thousands of Samsung workers gathered wearing black rain jackets carrying ribbons and posters saying "Fight with solidarity," to voice their dissatisfaction against the management's inaction to address their concern.
Park Seol, a senior member of the union said the protest has impacted the production. She added, "But more importantly, the company should understand that we aren't trying just to affect their production line, we want them to hear our voice and understand how desperate we are."
Advertisement
The protest has a long standing history of disagreements between the management and the union over fair pay, annual leave and transparent performance-based bonuses.
"The company doesn't value the union as a negotiating partner," said Lee Hyun Kuk, vice president of the Samsung Electronics union in the New York Times report.
Samsung Electronics founded in 1938 as a trading company over decades went on to become the world's largest memory chip maker. It contributes a major proportion of the high-end chips to the global market.
Ongoing protest is first of its kind in the decades old history of Samsung Electronics. Samsung founder, Lee Byung-chul, who died in 1987 was never welcoming of having a workers union and said would allow one "until I have dirt over my eyes."
Advertisement
The three-day strike that will continue till Wednesday might affect Samsung's leadership in the tech industry. "The union strike is nothing compared to a lot of the issues they are facing at this point," said Nam Hyung Kim, an analyst at the equity research firm Arete Research.
