Samsung Electronics’ main South Korea union to strike over pay from Thursday

SEOUL (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics (KS:)’ biggest workers’ union in South Korea said on Tuesday it would begin a four-day strike from Thursday to pressure the company over higher wages and bonuses after talks with management fell through in July.

Lee Hyun-kuk, vice president of the National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), said in a live YouTube broadcast: “This strike is strategically designed to damage the company.”

He said the union, whose 36,500 members make up about 30% of Samsung Electronics’ South Korean workforce, expects the company would not have enough backup office workers to support production lines during the planned strike, as many workers would be away for a national holiday on Thursday.

Samsung said in a statement: “The company plans to ensure there are no production disruptions and adheres to the no-work, no-pay principles, while we continue our effort to resume talks with the union.”

The union had declared an indefinite strike in July, but asked members to return to work in early August after a series of talks with management fell apart.

The union said it would continue demanding better pay and benefits from the tech giant by holding unexpected strikes.

Samsung Electronics said in late July that the strike held that month did not disrupt production.