More pay and vacation

Samsung union calls strike for the first time

A trade union at the South Korean electronics company Samsung has called a strike for the first time on Friday. The employees will stop work for one day to protest for better wages and working conditions, according to the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU). 

The NSEU has around 28,000 members and thus represents a good fifth of the company's total workforce. Among other things, the union is demanding an additional day of vacation and transparent performance-related bonuses. Samsung had previously stated that it would "sincerely participate in talks with the union".

According to the market research company Trendforce, the strike will not affect the production of DRAM and NAND flash memory chips or lead to supply bottlenecks. Trendforce pointed out that more employees at Samsung's headquarters in the capital Seoul were involved in the work stoppage than production workers. Production is also highly automated.

The union had stated that all of the company's sites throughout South Korea would be affected by the strike.