Samsung Workers Strike for Better Pay Amid AI Boom

Samsung Electronics workers have initiated a three-day strike demanding better pay, an additional annual leave day for unionized workers, and changes to the employee bonus system. While the strike is unlikely to impact production significantly due to low participation, it signals declining staff loyalty at a critical juncture in the chip industry dominated by AI advancements.

Samsung Electronics workers began a three-day strike for better pay on Monday, with their union pointing to further action should South Korea's biggest conglomerate continue to fall short of its demands. The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), whose roughly 30,000 members make up almost a quarter of the firm's South Korean workforce, also wants an extra day of annual leave for unionised workers and change to the employee bonus system.

Low participation and automated production means the strike is unlikely to have a significant impact on output at the world's biggest memory chipmaker, analysts said. Still, it signals a decline in staff loyalty at a pivotal point in the chip industry as tech firms embrace artificial intelligence. The union's first industrial action last month involved coordinating annual leave to stage a mass walkout, which Samsung said had no impact on business activity. The firm declined to comment on Monday's strike.

The union, which did not disclose last month's participation, said 6,540 workers are striking this week, mostly at manufacturing sites and in product development. It said the strike includes workers who monitor automated production lines and equipment so operations could be affected. Union officials said about 3,000 strikers attended a rally in the rain near Samsung's headquarters in Hwaseong, south of Seoul.

(With inputs from agencies.)