Samsung faces biggest strike in its history: 18 days for over 45,000 employees if no resolution reached today

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Reported by Divacons

The meeting between the South Korean company and its union has failed in its latest attempt to avert the biggest strike in the tech giant’s history, which is planned to last 18 days and is set to begin tomorrow if the dispute is not resolved at the last minute. The strike would involve more than 45,000 workers.

The union is demanding that Samsung remove the current cap on bonuses, allocate 15% of its operating profits to workers’ bonuses, and formalise these conditions in employment contracts. Furthermore, it has rejected calls to go to arbitration, insisting it will not accept an unfavourable wage deal, against a backdrop where President Lee Jae-myung has called for a balanced respect for both labour and business rights.

The breakdown in negotiations puts the global technology supply chain at risk, as Samsung is the world’s largest supplier of chips for devices ranging from data centre servers to smartphones and electric vehicles.

Shares in the South Korean tech giant fell by 1.37% in Seoul.

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The Corner
The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.