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Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

techxplore.com

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Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#2
> A spokesperson said union members, around 20 percent of the company workforce, would use annual leave to strike for one day on June 7, leaving the door open for a potential general strike down the road.

Despite the clickbait earlier in the article about disruption to supply chains, this seems quite small.

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#3

> A spokesperson said union members, around 20 percent of the company workforce, would use annual leave to strike for one day on June 7, leaving the door open for a potential general strike down the road. Despite the clickbait earlier in the article about disruption to supply chains, this seems quite small.

Interesting strategy. As employee leave is used, this won't cost the union a dime in strike payouts.

Is it really a strike at that point? The company can just revoke leave in the future and call the bluff. Then they'll have to take unpaid leave and risk their jobs for real.

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#4

> A spokesperson said union members, around 20 percent of the company workforce, would use annual leave to strike for one day on June 7, leaving the door open for a potential general strike down the road. Despite the clickbait earlier in the article about disruption to supply chains, this seems quite small.

Interesting strategy. As employee leave is used, this won't cost the union a dime in strike payouts. Is it really a strike at that point? The company can just revoke leave in the future and call the bluff. Then they'll have to take unpaid leave and risk their jobs for real.

Different countries have different rules,

The company is ultimately limited in how much they can punish the entire workforce without people quitting in mass for other work. Thus the inherent power of unions to negotiate.

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#5
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting strategy. As employee leave is used, this won't cost the union a dime in strike payouts. Is it really a strike at that point? The company can just revoke leave in the future and call the bluff. Then they'll have to take unpaid leave and risk their jobs for real.

Different countries have different rules, The company is ultimately limited in how much they can punish the entire workforce without people quitting in mass for other work. Thus the inherent power of unions to negotiate.

Samsung makes up nearly a quarter of South Korea's GDP. I imagine this has a significant impact on the viability of quitting for other work.

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#6

> A spokesperson said union members, around 20 percent of the company workforce, would use annual leave to strike for one day on June 7, leaving the door open for a potential general strike down the road. Despite the clickbait earlier in the article about disruption to supply chains, this seems quite small.

Interesting strategy. As employee leave is used, this won't cost the union a dime in strike payouts. Is it really a strike at that point? The company can just revoke leave in the future and call the bluff. Then they'll have to take unpaid leave and risk their jobs for real.

> Interesting strategy. As employee leave is used, this won't cost the union a dime in strike payouts.

> Is it really a strike at that point?

IMHO, yes. A strike is about coordinated employee action to to disrupt employer operations. How strikers get paid while doing it is totally irrelevant.

> The company can just revoke leave in the future and call the bluff. Then they'll have to take unpaid leave and risk their jobs for real.

Which would be a massively shitty move on the company's part, and likely to motivate more employees to join the union. After all, getting all your leave canceled is a pretty material reduction in working conditions. Literally, "the beatings will continue until morale improves."

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#7
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Different countries have different rules, The company is ultimately limited in how much they can punish the entire workforce without people quitting in mass for other work. Thus the inherent power of unions to negotiate.

Samsung makes up nearly a quarter of South Korea's GDP. I imagine this has a significant impact on the viability of quitting for other work.

Samsung has 0.1 million employees in SK out of a population of 52 million. It’s big, but that also makes it more difficult for them to replace people who quit.

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#9
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Different countries have different rules, The company is ultimately limited in how much they can punish the entire workforce without people quitting in mass for other work. Thus the inherent power of unions to negotiate.

Samsung makes up nearly a quarter of South Korea's GDP. I imagine this has a significant impact on the viability of quitting for other work.

While the chaebols represent a huge part of the South Korean's GDP, they account for only a small part of the jobs in the country. Whether leaving them for another job is easy, that I don't know. Depending on the country's culture, leaving could also be very bad for future prospects.

Re: Samsung Electronics union announces first-ever strike

#10

> A spokesperson said union members, around 20 percent of the company workforce, would use annual leave to strike for one day on June 7, leaving the door open for a potential general strike down the road. Despite the clickbait earlier in the article about disruption to supply chains, this seems quite small.

Just for completeness:

> A major union representing tens of thousands of people at South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics said Wednesday that workers will go on strike for the first time ever, potentially threatening key global semiconductor supply chains.

If somehow a company becomes

1) so crucial to the global semiconductor supply chain that a blip in their system threatens the whole thing

2) so poorly managed that a one day strike of 20% of their employees threatens their whole operation

That’s just totally unsustainable and nuts. I think it must be an exaggeration on the part of the authors of the article.

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