Samsung workers threaten to strike in Korea over salary negotiations

Last month, Samsung announced an average salary hike of 4.1% for the company’s workforce in South Korea. According to the tech giant, this decision was taken in agreement with the labor-management council, which includes employer and employee representatives.

However, unionized laborers at the company say that the labor-management council doesn’t represent their interests. The decision to hike salaries by an average of 4.1% was taken without the union’s consent. Unhappy with how Samsung handled the matter, unionized workers have threatened to go on strike if the company doesn’t open a dialogue to negotiate their salaries directly with the union.

“Samsung Electronics announced the final agreement without the consent of the union. We will join hands with other unions to fight to bring the company to the dialogue table and make it accept us,” said the labor union in a press conference today. According to unionized workers, the union is the only body that has the right to bargain on their behalf.

Samsung has around 1,21,00 workers in South Korea, and 7.4% of those are unionized laborers who are distributed between four labor unions. Samsung had long been criticized for preventing workers from forming unions. In 2010, however, Lee Jae-Yong, CEO of the company, promised to improve the relationship between the management and laborers. With that precedent, the first union was created in 2018.