Last year saw a historic strike by workers at Samsung, the Korean electronics firm with a global footprint. Yet the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU) that organized the strike has since stumbled over an old practice in South Korea’s labor movement — one often used to drive a wedge between the leadership and the rank-and-file members.
The strike last July by a union with more than thirty thousand members that had only formed in 2019 drew attention from both corporations and organized labor worldwide. It broke new ground in a number of significant ways.
Not only was it the first strike by workers at Samsung, a company that had enforced a strict no-union policy for over forty years. It was also the first strike over pay transparency concerning a controversial incentive metric and the first major strike in the global chip industry, where rapid expansion has been coming at the expense of workplace safety.
However, this landmark strike fizzled out within about a week. Despite its successes at recruitment, the NSEU still only represents about one-quarter of Samsung’s manufacturing workforce and was unable to completely halt memory chip production. A hard-nosed refusal to engage by Samsung management also demoralized union members.
Last year saw a historic strike by workers at Samsung, the Korean electronics firm with a global footprint.
In November 2024, the union leadership and Samsung nonetheless tentatively reached a four-point collective bargaining agreement, including a wage increase. Almost two-thirds of the members voted it down, after…
Auteur: Kap Seol
