Unionized workers at Samsung Electronics threatened on Thursday to go on strike in order to force the company's management to get back to negotiations over a pay raise, as the previous talks' results are unsatisfactory, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Thursday, citing a statement by the union
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th May, 2023) Unionized workers at Samsung Electronics threatened on Thursday to go on strike in order to force the company's management to get back to negotiations over a pay raise, as the previous talks' results are unsatisfactory, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported on Thursday, citing a statement by the union.
In April, Samsung reached an agreement with a labor management council which represents the company's employees, on a 4.1% pay increase in 2024. The union, which represents around 7.4% of the company's 121,000 workers, claimed the agreement was ineffective as it has been concluded without the participation of the union, which deems itself the only legal representative of the workers, Yonhap reported.
"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," the union was quoted in the report as saying.
The pay raise disputes between the management and the council were held with mediation by the National Labor Relations Commission, which pulled out of the case earlier in the week, thus allegedly causing the union to put forward its demands, Yonhap said.
Samsung has been frequently criticized for preventing its employees from unionizing until 2010, thus denying the workers legal representation over a fifty-year period in the company's existence. Currently, four labor unions are active at Samsung, Yonhap added.
Samsung Electronics is an international electronics manufacturer producing semiconductors, telecommunication hardware, memory chips, LCD displays, mobile phones and monitors. The company is headquartered in Seoul.
