The labor union of South Korean Samsung Electronics plans to hold its first strike on Friday, but some analysts believe that this labor action regarding wages and working conditions will not significantly affect chip production.
The National Samsung Electronics Union (NSEU), with about 28,000 members accounting for more than one-fifth of the company's total employees, stated it will stop work for one day as part of broader protest measures.
Market research firm TrendForce stated that they do not believe this strike will affect the production of DRAM and NAND Flash memory chips or lead to shipment shortages.
TrendForce pointed out that this strike involves more employees from Samsung's headquarters in Seoul rather than workers directly involved in production.
Moreover, the strike is planned to last only one day and coincides with the first day after a public holiday, meaning some employees have already applied for leave. The production process is also highly automated, so the strike is unlikely to significantly impact production.
Workers have been holding intermittent protests outside the company's offices in Seoul and the Hwaseong chip production base south of Seoul in recent weeks.
Regarding the company's decision to increase wages by 5.1% this year, the union has expressed a desire for an additional day of annual leave and a transparent performance bonus system.
Samsung Electronics previously stated it would "sincerely discuss with the union."
The union had said that the action on June 7 would affect all company locations nationwide in South Korea. The NSEU is the largest of the company's five unions.
Last week, a coalition of five unions from Samsung affiliates, including another smaller Samsung Electronics union, questioned the intent of the strike plans, stating they would not join the action.
Since Samsung Electronics pledged to end its practices of preventing union development in 2020, the number of union members has rapidly increased.
