A nationwide strike by Samsung workers in South Korea

Leaders of a labor union in South Korea announced that thousands of Samsung Electronics workers in the country will strike on Monday to protest their wages and working conditions, the Wall Street Journal reported. They started a three-day strike and left their workplace.

According to this report, the employees of this company, which is considered the largest manufacturer of memory chips and smartphones in the world, have demanded an increase in wages and better working conditions.

Samsung also announced after this strike that there is no immediate disruption in production.

The Samsung Electronics National Union, which claims to have about 30,000 members, or roughly a quarter of the company’s workforce, said about 6,500 workers went on strike across the country on Monday.

Members of the union have been asked to walk off the job for three days (Monday to Wednesday) and increase pressure on the management of the complex to increase their bargaining power in the now stalled negotiations to meet their demands for More wages, more bonuses and better working conditions should be accepted.

One of the leaders of this union said during a gathering of striking workers near the Samsung factory in Hwaseong, south of Seoul, which was broadcast on television: Our strike today is aimed at disrupting production.

He warned that if the management fails to meet their demands, a larger-scale nationwide strike may be held later this month.

The union launched what it called Samsung’s first strike in June, telling its members to take a day off with pay en masse. However, the union’s previous action did not affect production operations at the company’s chip facilities.

Industrial unrest at Samsung followed Friday’s second-quarter earnings forecast, boosted by continued recovery in the company’s chip business.

The company expects operating profit for the April-June period to increase nearly 16 times compared to the same period last year.