Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Thanks to CTOnews.com netizen Xiao Zhan for the clue delivery! CTOnews.com, May 4 (Xinhua) Samsung Electronics, the largest company in South Korea and the largest electronics manufacturer in the world, has recently been caught in a crisis of labor disputes. A union of Samsung Electronics said that if the company did not meet their demands, they would launch a historic strike.

The union says it represents 9% of Samsung's employees, or about 10, 000. They issued a statement on Thursday accusing Samsung management of refusing to negotiate salaries with them. They had demanded a pay rise of more than 6% this year, in part to offset South Korea's inflation of more than 4%. But Samsung management announced last month that it would only increase 4.1% for the best employees and 2% for the average employee. In response to a question from Bloomberg, Samsung Electronics said it had followed all relevant procedures and would continue to communicate with the union.

The union also asked Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong to personally participate in the negotiations. "We will decide whether to strike after discussing with our 10,000 members, depending on the attitude of Chairman Lee Jae-yong," union representative Lee Xianguo said at a press conference in front of the Samsung building in Gangnam district of Seoul. "We sincerely ask him to come to the negotiating table for dialogue."

If Samsung Electronics strikes, unions of 11 other Samsung Group subsidiaries, such as construction company Samsung Construction and Samsung SDI, a maker of electric car batteries, will follow suit. Wu Xiangxun, trade union representative of Samsung Fire and Maritime Insurance Company, said: "We are not only for a pay rise, but also to protest against Samsung's crackdown on trade unions." the chairman apologized for non-union management in 2020, but he still did not meet us. "

For Samsung Electronics, this employee dissatisfaction comes at a bad time. Samsung Electronics is grappling with the market downturn as global demand for everything from memory chips to smartphones and home appliances falls. As a representative of the global technology economy, Samsung Electronics lost $3.4 billion in the first quarter of this year in the chip division alone (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 23.494 billion yuan).

South Korean trade unions have important influence in local politics and businesses, and strikes are not uncommon, but it will be the first time Samsung has suffered a strike since it was founded in 1969. Last year, Samsung's union was granted the right to strike after wage negotiations failed, and Thursday's action began after negotiations broke down this week, the Korean Herald reported on Wednesday. during the negotiations, the union initially demanded a 10% pay rise and later put forward various proposals, including a bonus higher than that of competitors or an one-time payment. But Samsung Electronics agreed last month to an average salary increase of only 4% this year, which the union thought was unreasonable and bypassed the union.

Samsung Electronics said last week that it expects demand in several markets, including smartphones, computers and storage, to improve gradually from the second half of this year. But before that, Samsung Electronics may have to face the risks and challenges brought about by labor disputes.

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